Digestion starts in the eyes. It may sound strange, but it doesn’t start in the mouth. It starts when you first see food. Meaning when you look at food, your salivary glands get to work to prepare the food to get broken down with enzymes.
So when you prepare food, it should be visually pleasing and delightful to the eyes. One stunning way to display food is with charcuterie boards (with a vegetarian twist). Whether you’re creating an intimate gathering with family or you want to make an extra special food platter to share with a loved one, vegan ‘cheese’ boards, or a board of any kind, are stunning and so much fun! Plus, they're kickstarting your digestive juices!
"Cheese" boards are my favorite things to make for gatherings of any kind, as they're fun, simple, and are relatively quick to put together. You can stick to doing it all vegan like this one, or vegetarian, or of course make the classic charcuterie display, but either way, be sure to add your healthy and tasty sides to add color, texture, and nourishment to it.
Here are some tips we collaborated on with foodie and vegan chef, Sarah of @sculptedkitchen on how to make your holiday platters extra special:
1. BERRIES
Berries are full of antioxidants and enrich our cells to reduce the risk of disease. Not only do they taste wonderful and sweet, but they add a beautiful vibrancy that no other fruits can really achieve. They’re also small and easy to pop into your mouth; the perfect finger food!
Pro tip: Place the berries last on your board to fill up empty space!
2. DIPS AND VEGAN CHEESES
What kind of dips do you decide to put on your board is entirely up to you, but a few favorites are: hummus, vegan cheese (spinach and artichoke flavor is a huge hit), spinach and artichoke dip, pesto, and guacamole. You can make them from scratch at home or buy your favorite store-bought version.
Pro tip: You can add any adaptogenic powders of choice here; particularly mushrooms powders pair well with vegan cheeses or regular cheese tips that are homemade.
3. CRACKERS
Everyone loves munching on crackers. Add in a variety of crackers like gluten-free, ancient grain, raw flax crackers, traditional crackers, and grain-free crackers. They’re perfect by themselves or with your dips and fruits!
Pro tip: Line your crackers up by type and tip them over like dominos to create movement in your board.
4. SOMETHING EXOTIC
Don’t get intimidated by this. It doesn’t have to be Birds Nest Soup, Octopus, or Snake Wine. Just a little something that someone would not normally eat or have access to daily. Try passion fruit, or figs (yes, they can be exotic), or raw dates. Something eye-catching with color that helps bring the board together.
5. SOMETHING YOU
What you bring to your board are your personality and style. Maybe there's a food or fruit that's from your family's tradition. What do you love to eat most? Nuts? Chickpeas? Olives? Flowers? Add your final touches to your board and let yourself shine.
Pro tip: Edible flowers are a lovely way to bring the board together and add pops of color.
Ideas for colored foods: For Red, you can use berries or roses. For Orange, use tangerines, mangos, apricots, kumquats, orange bell peppers, and carrots. For Yellow, try Golden Milk, corn, squash, and yellow bell peppers. For Green, use leafy greens, green bell peppers, brussel sprouts, kiwis, and limes. For Blue, try blueberries or a Blue Lotus Latte. For Indigo and Violet, use plums, purple carrots, red cabbage, elderberries, plums, figs, black currants, and grapes.
Helpful tip: If you’re missing a color, try a latte or create a mocktail with the needed color!
@sculptedkitchen went all out and made a beyyyyonnnd DECADENT vegan board using a bunch of plant medicines 🤤
OK, LET’S TALK DETAILS!
This is what's on the featured board:
- Basil pesto using our Liver Vitality daily greens for added liver and gut detox and nourishment
- Red bell pepper hummus strengthened with Adaptogenic powerhouses like Cordyceps and He Shou Wu
- Rose Yogurt with our divine Organic Rose Powder (pictured above!) with a dash of Mangosteen Hibiscus for vitamin C
- Oatmeal cookies with our vegan Dirty Rose Chai Collagen Booster
- Golden Milk to nourish the belly as you indulge using our Golden Sunmilk
- And of course, sprinkles of Blue Lotus everywhere for added magic.
- Pro Tip! you can do any kind of 'rainbow' latte's to go with this, on the rocks or warm, for an added fun element to your cheese board experience!
Can you believe all these medicines were used in the making of this board?! YES, medicinal food is SO our thing. Not just cause it's good, but it's FUN! Great way to add in some plant magic to your holiday platters. Remember! Get creative and play around with mood and flavors.
