Make a plant-based holiday cheese board

The holidays are filled with special eating occasions.  Whether it’s Thanksgiving Day or the big college football rivalry game on the weekend, you’ll need plenty of food for people to nibble on while the main meal is being prepared.

But, how can you snack all day without ruining your appetite for dinner?  Try making this plant-based cheese board for your next holiday celebration with these light but satisfying foods.

Plant-based cheese board ingredients

• Raw, unsalted nuts (cashews, almonds, walnuts, pecans, hazelnuts)
• Whole grain baked bread, crackers and crisp flatbreads
• Dried fruits (apricots, figs, dates)
• Plant-based almond or cashew cheese
• Fresh fruit (apples, pears, grapes, pomegranate, citrus)
• Fresh vegetables (carrots, celery, broccoli and cauliflower florets)
• Hummus (plain, beet, carrot, roasted red pepper)

 

 

Foods for a plant-based cheese board

• Avoid bright orange, dried apricots preserved with sulfur dioxide, which can be allergenic.  Instead, choose these Made in Nature dried, unsulfured apricots with a natural burnt orange, bronzed-in-the-sunshine hue.
•  Add tahini or high-quality olive oil to store-bought hummus to jazz up the taste, and sprinkle these crunchy Biena roasted chickpeas with sea salt on top for more texture.
• Miyoko’s vegan cheese wheels are made with cashews, including the two flavors featured in these photos: sundried tomato garlic and garlic herb.

• Spread cheese on good-quality crackers such as these gluten-free sprouted-seed crackers by Simple Mills, or these organic sourdough flatbreads by Rustic Bakery.  Stuff fresh celery stalks with Kite Hill almond milk cream cheese with chives.
• Trader Joe’s makes sweet and savory crackers in three festive holiday flavors: pistachio pomegranate, fig & olive, and pumpkin cranberry.
• For more more healthy holiday eating strategies, read my blog post about how to Eat Healthy on Thanksgiving Day (and still have pumpkin pie).