Non Pressure Cooker
◦
Did you know that gorgeous snack platters don’t have to be expensive?? Keep reading to learn my tips for creating the perfect summer snack board for less than $20!
Snack boards are my new favorite obsession, and can be a show-stopping addition to any dinner party, NBA finals hangout, backyard bbq, or a fun stay at home date night! I have to admit, I didn’t join the whole snack board revolution until this past year because I would always see them online and think they would be way too expensive to put together. Something that beautiful just can’t be cheap, right?? Wrong! They’re actually quite reasonable, can always be made healthy, and bring a great variety of food to the table!
The first thing to consider when creating your snack board is the time of year. Since we’re focusing on a summer snack board today, I’m including lots of fresh summer produce, light and creamy dips, lighter cheeses, and no meat. If you’d like to include some salami or another meat, that’s totally up to you, but if I’m taking this to an outdoor party, I like to omit the meat knowing that the food could potentially be sitting outside in the sun.
The second step in creating a budget board is to see what you already have on hand! This might sound silly and obvious, but I already had most of these ingredients hanging out in my fridge left from other recipes or snacks for the week. It’s a great way to use up those lone carrots or half a cucumber hanging out in your produce drawer and an awesome way to eat down the jars of pickles and olives living in the side of your fridge door. Anything you find in there is fair game!
Once you assess what you have on hand, you can create a list of what you still need to fill in the gaps. I usually like to include 2-3 veggies, 2-3 fruits, 2-3 dips and/or cheeses, and 2-3 cracker or bread varieties. The kind folks over at RW Garcia Snacks sent me a few boxes of their gluten-free artisan veggie crackers last week, so those were super fun to include in my snack board! I also love just tearing up a baguette and placing hunks of fresh bread around the platter.
When you head to the store to buy the rest of your supplies, have your budget in mind and stick to it! It’s easy to get carried away, but you’ll be surprised at how quickly your board fills up with just a small portion of a whole bunch of things. To fill in my gaps, I bought a garlic dip and a spicy hummus from Trader Joe’s along with a small log of goat cheese, 1 peach, and 1 pear. The rest of the ingredients I had on hand, so I only had to spend about $10! Awesome, right?
I really really wanna see your snack board creations, so send me a pic or hashtag #kitschencat on instagram to show me what you come up with!
Peace out my snackers!