It’s summertime, and the livin’ is easy…or at least it should be. But when it’s too hot to cook and you’re not particularly in the mood to do dishes, you need to be a bit imaginative with dinner, lest you order take-out every night. No, friends…it’s times like these that you reach for your back-pocket ninja brilliance, and whip out the easiest family friendly charcuterie.
Behold, the Snacks Dinner!
At our house, we typically call this the Snacks Dinner. It usually looks like cheese and crackers with a side of lunch meat and some carrot sticks with ranch. Nothing fancy. Here’s where the ninja brilliance comes in. The kids get to choose the ingredients, with a little guidance: crackers, cheeses, meats, something spreadable, and self-contained (meaning we don’t need to peel it or cut it to eat it), smallish fruits. It may require a bit of a shift in thinking and flavor from your traditional charcuterie to let the kids decide, but this way, everyone eats and everyone’s happy.
You Say Charcuterie, I Say Snacks
Turn your easy snacks dinner into a family friendly charcuterie board. Kids can generally get on board (see what I did there?) with having snacks for dinner, and the adults will find it’s a novel way to change things up a bit by adding charcuterie to the weeknight repertoire. Everyone wins!
You want at least a few options in each of the meat, cheese, and crackers/bread categories, so everyone can find something that looks perfect to them, regardless of who selected the ingredients. Part of the fun of charcuterie is that it’s a lot of trial to find the perfect combination of crunchy/salty/sweet, but never really any error, because everything is scrumptious. Add a few finishers, or “toppings” as Maddie calls them, to the mix in the form of dips and spreads, and your board is complete.
Even more brilliant? Make it look fancy without putting in all the effort. Here’s how:
Simple, but Elevated…or Not
Buy precut meats and cheeses to save yourself some time, which allows you a few extra minutes to arrange everything artfully on your board. OR, it allows you a few extra minutes to relax with your people. No need to be extra here if you’re not feeling it. If they’re truly your people, they don’t need you to be an expert at arranging a meat and cheese platter. I’m pretty sure if yummy snack food land on a plate somewhere, they’ll eat it, and it won’t taste any better if you make it into a dramatic display. So, unless designing the board brings YOU joy, don’t take the time to do it.
Remember that it may be the easygoing simplicity itself that elevates this meal to perfection, and it’s more important to show up for yourself and for your family and friends with a smile on your face than with fancy food. Honor your mood, whatever it is!
Regardless, if you can’t get the cheese you want pre-cut, try this trick in the interest of both time and artistry: use a fork to shear off crumbly bite-sized pieces, then pile them high in a cute little heap.
Spice It Up
To keep things satisfying for more mature palates, throw in herbs and spices where you can. I added Marcona almonds with rosemary, and a newly discovered, crazy delicious almond-based sauce, rated PG-13 for language – Original Bitchin’ Sauce. You guys, this stuff is SO good and packs a spicy little kick, and both kids loved it! Think hummus-meets-dip-in-the-southwest. Shout out to my dear friend Tina for introducing me to this…well, this bitchin’ sauce. I found it at my local grocery store in the specialty cold case, and you can also grab it from Whole Foods or in mongo size at Costco. You may very well want it in mongo size after you taste it.
We also got a little extra savory in the garlic-infused cream cheese spread. You can always make your own with fresh or dried herbs if you feel so inclined, but remember, if you’re feeling lazy and going for easy, it’s a-okay to let the kids choose one already mixed.
On Our Family Friendly Charcuterie Board:
- Green grapes
- Strawberries
- Blueberries
- Toasted grissini (Italian bread sticks)
- Sharp cheddar cubes
- Red cherries
- Shaved honey ham
- Garlic and herb cream cheese (Rondelé, Alouette, or Boursin)
- Pretzel thins
- Beecher’s Flagship Cheese
- Marcona almonds with rosemary
- Pita crackers
- Original Bitchin’ Sauce
- Salami
- Pepperoni
- Ritz crackers
Missing from the list are some of my favorite items: triple cream brie, pepperoncinis, prosciutto, herbed crackers, fig jam, roasted red pepper spread, olives, etc. All of these treats are worthy of a place on your board, but perhaps not on a day when you are younger-family focused.
Pour the kids a fun drink to make it feel festive. We love a strawberry lemonade/7-Up combo on ice in a pretty glass. And there you have it! It’s the simplest dinner ever, so easily elevated and refined by a change in perspective and serving platter. Family friendly charcuterie is the perfect no-stress, no-mess dinnertime win on summer’s longest, laziest days.
What do you put on your charcuterie board? Drop a comment below to let me know. Dessert items don’t count…that’s a whole different board unto itself. I’ll do another post on that later ;).
Cheers to you and yours, friends! Happy summer!
