My friends call me the cheese platter queen and I’ll happily take that title. My mum has been making EPIC cheese platters for as long as I can remember and I’ve grown up happily munching on them. The key to an epic cheese platter however is to get the perfect mix of ingredients so it’s not only tasty but also healthy. Thanks mum for teaching me the art of the perfect platter!

To make your healthy and delicious platter, these are my top 5 tips:

1. Make sure there are HEAPS of colourful veggies on the platter. I love to use carrot sticks, celery sticks, snow peas, red capsicum, grilled pumpkin, grilled zucchini, grilled mushrooms, olives and cherry or sun dried tomatoes.
2. Make sure the crackers you use are wholegrain as the extra fibre will fill people up more. Also, don’t put too many crackers out as it forces people to eat more of the veggie sticks (sorry it’s the dietitian in me!)
3. I LOVE CHEESE but limit cheese to 2 types only – if weight loss is your goal then too much cheese will stall your progress. Sometimes I even buy two types of cheese but only use half the brie and half the cheddar for example and save the rest for another platter. Generally people don’t even notice when I only serve half cheese round.
4. Add some healthy dips on the platter to dip the veggie sticks in – think hommus, tzatziki, salsa or avocado dip. Even better – make your own – beetroot, tomato relish or a spicy capsicum can all be done in your own blender!
5. Fresh fruit is not only pleasing to the eye but it’s a natural sugar hit which keeps people satisfied and stops any cravings. My favorite fruits to add to a cheese platter are strawberries, blueberries, grapes, dragon fruit, passion fruit, kiwi fruit and pineapple.

There you have it – my top 5 tips to create colourful, nourishing and delicious cheese platters for you and your family and friends to enjoy all year round. Now my final tip which isn’t listed above is especially for my busy/ uncreative tribe. It involves enlisting the help of a professional! One of my best friends had her birthday the other day and we wanted to make it extra special for her so we enlisted the help of the lads from My Alter Ego Catering – if you have a special occasion (in Brisbane, GC or Sunny Coast) and need that professional touch – give these guys a call – they were amazing… and no they didn’t pay me to say this – we were just super impressed with their work! (see the below photo for an epic spread!)

Leave me any questions below or send this to your family/ friends who could use some cheese platter tips from the queen herself! hehe xo