I received this book for free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Boards and Spreads by Yasmin Fahr Published by Crown Publishing Group on August 23, 2022
Genres: Cooking / Entertaining, Cooking / Methods / Garnishing & Food Presentation, Cooking / Tablesetting
Pages: 192
Format: ARC, eBook
Source: Netgalley
Enjoy more than 65 recipes for platters and boards, including dinner-worthy spreads, appetizers, breakfast, snacks, and more inspiration for anytime-eating
Boards and Spreads presents more than sixty-five recipes for beautiful, delicious boards and epic spreads for sharing-friendly meals, from breakfast through dinner. Going far beyond the standard cheese board or charcuterie board, here you will find countless ideas for how to create colorful platters and spreads with easy, flavorful recipes to fill them, like the Italian Aperitivo Board with Crispy Prosciutto Caprese; Any-Night Tacos with super-quick sheet pan shrimp, and rotisserie chicken that you spice up yourself; and breakfast spreads like the make-your-own Egg Pita Sandwich Board. Even drinks can be served board-style, whether it's a Bloody Mary Bar or the DIY Daytime Drinks set-up for a crowd. Plus, there are plenty of quick recipes for dips, snacks, and other fun add-ons that you'll turn to time and time again for countless meals, like Za'atar Flatbread, Smashed Olives, Quick-Pickled Shallots and Jalapenos, and Two-Minute Feta Dip.
Whether you're looking for a snackable spread or grazing board to serve when having people over, searching for the perfect food to share for an outdoor get-together, or simply looking for easy-to-make recipes that you can throw together on a whim, Boards and Spreads is full of ideas for turning everyday ingredients into festive, low-effort meals.
I really like the pictures and photography in this book, and I like the themeing and some of the essays included with the recipes. Unfortunately, there is way too much cross-referencing other recipes with each other in this book – every time you’re like “oh, there’s only six ingredients in this recipe” they’re like “oh also reference this other recipe later in the book where you’ll need a whole wheelbarrow full of ingredients”, which I just don’t think is accessible! And I do think that a Board should be accessible; these just seem way too fancy to have the word ’simple’ in the title. It’s finger foods on a plate! This gets just three stars from me because of it. Full list of recipes available on my blog.
Boards for Breakfast
The Jam Plan board
The Egg Pita Sandwich board
The pancakes board
The Shaksuka-ish spread
The Smorrebrod-style Lox board
The Homemade granola board
Bloody Mary Bar
Breads on Boards
The No-cook tartines board
The crispy snacky tortilla board
The feta flatbread board
The tinned fish board
The pizza toast board
Be Your Own Sausage Hero spread
Snacking Boards + Salad + Veggie Platters
The Many mezze Snacking Board
The Italian Apertivo Board
The Summer trio platter
The fall/winter truo platter
The spring duo platter
The charred salad duo
Dinnertime boards
The Mini Sliders board
The Taco Spread
The Top-Your-Own Chili board
The winner, Winner Chicken Dinner board
Big pot of mussels on a board
The Salmon Centerpiece Spread
The Kebab Dinner
Take it Outside
DIY Daytime Drinks
The Crispy Chicken Bites Spread
The Sandwich board
Picnic salad trio
Highly transportable grain bowl
Go green pasta salad board
Accents & Add-ons
Quick-pickled shallots or jalapenos
Lemony herbs + onions
Herby green sauce
Smashed Olives
Jammy eggs
Quick-charred artichokes
Caramelized bananas
Any-berry compote
Dips, Spreads & More Fun Things
Herby Yogurt Dip
Restaurant-style hummus
Za’atar flatbread
Baked pita chips
Two-minute feta dip
Scallion labneh
Two super simple salads
Avocado salad
Marinated chickpeas
Garlicky white beans
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