Snack Time

Who doesn’t like snacks? I try to have healthy snacks these days. If cured meats, cheese, olives, nuts and pickles are healthy then I am winning. Between Aldi and Sprouts I always have a basic charcuterie array. I know there is science and art that goes into a tasting plate like this, I don’t know it. I use the sweet, salty, sour, spicy method. I feel like that arrangement makes the whole mouth happy. There are changes that I make from what is recommended. I don’t like jelly or jam so I skip that part. I don’t always have good crackers on hand so that is sometimes missing. Unless I am serving a soft cheese I don’t worry so much about the crackers. I almost always have apples, cucumbers and tomatoes. Sometimes I have grapes and carrots. This was a planned snack. I was going to make it dinner. I got hungry before I was finished shopping.

I will start by telling you what I had and finish with what it should have been.

For the salty element I got olives stuffed with smoked garlic cloves, smoked kalamata olives and regular martini olives.

For they spicy element I got pimento cheese dip and roasted garlic hummus. I also had almonds seasoned with wasabi and soy sauce.

For the sweets I used a Sugarbee and a Honey crisp apples.

For the salty cheese I went with an Irish white cheddar and a double Gloucester with chives and onions in it. For the salty meats I had a super thin sliced salami Milano.

What I wanted to have isn’t a long list but it would have made this the perfect dinner.

I wanted a pear and some grapes. I wanted Roquefort blue and Swiss cheeses. I wanted a thicker sliced pepperoni and a spicy Genoa salami. I wanted either sweet pickles or bread and butter pickles. I wanted tomato slices and those marinated mushrooms from the deli. I wanted the triangle shaped Triscuit crackers, one box of flavored and one box of plain.

Everything I wanted had to be a trip to the big grocery store not Aldi. I started planning the shop by doing a pantry/fridge inventory. My fridge is small so I have to shop thoughtfully. I made room for new thing and I made a list. I knew I could get a few of the things at my store thus making the big store list shorter. This is important because when I say big store, think Costco. Only it’s just a regular grocery store. I have been four times and I still haven’t been thru the whole place.

I had a bad day at work. I didn’t shop there or make it to the big store. I went to the liquor store and got a bottle of wine and went home. I am not unhappy with the snack I created and I know that I was going in the right direction. The full dinner is going to be an extravagance so I will have to shop twice maybe even three times. With 2 or 3 shops needed, changes could be made. Red pepper hummus, different olives, different cheeses, different fruit, other nuts. For my next full spread I think I will keep the pimento cheese and garlic hummus. I like the smoked kalamata olives but the green ones could be stuffed with blue cheese or red peppers. The pickles should be a bread and butter, baby dill and spicy gherkin. I will keep the double Gloucester but I think I will switch to an American white cheddar. The Roquefort and Swiss have to happen as well. Blue Diamond and Planters make a whole range of flavored nuts. I am not sure why I don’t have one of each in the pantry!

Let your imagination run free with this. If you like it, put it out there. Smoked salmon would be good here. Any of the tinned fish would be good here. I’ve read so many stories about this and haven’t seen one that included fish. I don’t eat the fishes but my guests do. Fishes certainly require a cracker, not a triscuit. Don’t be afraid to pair cheese and fish. Don’t be afraid of anything with this! What is the worst that could happen? You find something that you don’t like but you can also find something that is magical. Smoked salmon with feta and capers. Mackerel in chili oil with Swiss. Sardines with cheddar. A shrimp cocktail could go here as well.

So many ideas for a simple thing. Follow your taste buds. Do what sounds like it will taste good. We can have a chat about that, following your taste buds. In the mean time enjoy your kitchen! Embrace your kitchen. Create tasty foods.