This gorgeous gluten free party is ready in minutes!

Gluten Free Cheese, Charcuterie or Grazing Boards

Dear friends,

This time of year is full of celebrations, graduations, weddings, and recitals, the list seems to go on and on.

Schedules are jam-packed, and when you are gluten free, you are usually either hosting the shindig to make sure it’s safe or bringing your own food to the party. Who has time for all that?

Enter the gluten free charcuterie/cheese/snack board. A beautiful celebratory day can be yours just for a little arranging time.

This is the subject of one of my all-time most popular classes. I’m not surprised, there’s something about a big tray of snacks that is just so appealing, I mean look at the tapas culture in Spain, there’s just something irresistible about it.

I’ve included information that I usually teach in my quite popular charcuterie classes, and while as promised you don’t have to cook a thing, there are also a couple of recipes that take your average grazing board over the top! (Scroll down for those).

Cheese/Charcuterie/Grazing boards can be an interesting and exciting way to shake up dinner time, make entertaining easy, or even feel grown up during lunchtime even though you just want a Lunchable! 

Boards are flexible and can contain a variety of delicacies both homemade and curated (see you’re basically an artist).  The options are endless but I’ve included examples of the most likely components below:

CHEESE – hard, soft, woolly rind, aromatic, mild, bleu, spreads
MEAT – cured meats, salamis, sausages, pate
FRUIT – fresh and dried fruit
VEG – fresh vegetables, pickled vegetables, olives, dried tomatoes, vegetable spreads
SWEETS – jams, honey, chocolate, candied fruit
CRUNCH: nuts, granola, vegetable or fruit chips,
VEHICLES – Crackers, breads, breadsticks, chips, pita
GARNISH: Herbs, flowers, candies

I like to arrange the platter starting with the most important items (to me) first and work around them as you arrange the rest. 

Cheese: Your first decision is what to put the cheese on.  Plates of different shapes and sizes are an option, slate, boards, trays, and sheet pans.  Cheese is mostly white or yellow so a dark or contrasting color can make it pop.

Ahem, a slight interruption - Next Level Gluten Free recipes are tested over and over and scientifically work! Then I walk you through all the details. I’m like your friend in the kitchen, who is a gluten-free expert. Upgrade to a paid membership so we can hang out more and you get to eat more delicious gluten free food.

Follow the “Rule of Odd Numbers.” Plan on three cheeses for a small tray, five for a medium tray, and seven for a large tray.

Include a variety of cheese flavors and textures. You can include a hard, aged cheese like an aged parmesan or an aged cheddar; a Swiss cheese, a soft, rich cheese like brie and a blue.

You can even serve a cheese spread that combines several cheeses with herbs or garlic!

Andrew Zimmern

of

Andrew Zimmern's Spilled Milk

advises using a variety of cuts to add texture and visual interest in charcuterie boards.

Charcuterie: Charcuterie is a tasty and colorful addition to any cheese board.  Adding one to three cured meats to your board is a balanced approach.  Thinly sliced prosciutto, salami, or cured chorizo add depth and heft to a platter.

Fruit: Fresh berries, stone fruit, figs, melons, and pears are great.  Grapes are a classic and look great on the vine.  Avoid fresh pineapple as it has an enzyme that dissolves meat protein. Dried fruits like dates, cherries, and cranberries are wonderful foils for cheese and charcuterie.

Vegetables: Fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, and jicama add texture  Pickled vegetables like olives, cucumbers, and artichokes are classic ways to cut the richness of cheese and preserved meats.

Sweets- Jams and honeys pair well with cheeses, Dark, milk and white chocolate can also play off the flavors of the cheeses and charcuterie.

Crunch: You’ll need some texture think spiced or roasted nuts, granolas, something to provide a layer of textural dimension.

Vehicles: Don’t forget the carbs! Throw in some gluten free breads and crackers and you are all set. Add crudité or regular chips to spice things up a bit. The charcuterie boards and plates above all have buckwheat-based crackers from Better with Buckwheat from Maine Crisp Co. They were new to me and so delicious! They have fun flavors like Olive & Zaatar and Everything Bagel so wonderful that I emailed the company and they provided me with an exclusive discount for you my dear readers!

Here is a 15% off code for orders over $20 (also includes free shipping), good through 5/15/2024. The code is: nextlevel

Full disclosure these crackers were sent to me, but this is not a paid placement and all opinions are my own.

I was excited to find these because it is SO HARD to find a delicious fancy gluten free cracker or crisp that is NOT MADE OF OATS. Buckwheat is such a flavorful natural grain and is so great for the soil, it makes me happy to purchase, also DELICIOUS!

Garnish:  This part is really fun, add condiments or spreads (take them out of the package and they look so elegant) edible flowers, herbs, chive flowers, and seasonal candies to finish your creation.

Scroll down for a couple of recipes to take your board over the top!

Whipped Feta Spread

1 cup Feta cheese
1/3 cup unsalted butter
2 tbsp. sour cream
1 small garlic clove, grated or finely minced
1/2 tsp. caraway seeds
a pinch of freshly ground black pepper

With an electric mixer or food processor whip cheese with the butter and sour cream. Add the garlic, salt, pepper, and caraway seeds.  Whip until smooth and fluffy. Chill for 1 hour so flavors can meld. 

Citrus and Herb Marinated Olives
(2 cups)

2 cups assorted olives, rinsed and drained
3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
3 thin orange slices
3 thin lemon slices
2 sprigs fresh thyme or rosemary
Red-pepper flakes

In a medium saucepan, combine olives, olive oil, orange slices, lemon slices, and fresh thyme. Season with red pepper flakes. Bring to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes. With a slotted spoon, transfer olives, fruit, and herbs to a serving dish; reserve oil for another use, it makes a great salad dressing combined with vinegar!