Graze & Laze Party Platters

I love a laze and graze party platter, especially when it’s too hot to cook. Here are my top platter tips!

Start with the best ingredients you can
The appeal of platters like these is that you hardly need to do any cooking and instead let the ingredients do the work for you. Try to get your hands on the best ingredients you can including seasonal fruit and veg, delicious cheeses (perhaps one hard, one soft) and some lovely olives.

Make a quick, easy dip

For me, a delicious dip is a fundamental part of sharing platters. I love the whipped feta and harissa honey dip on page 214 of my book Feel Good. Bean-based dips always go down a storm; simply blitz up a tin of beans with garlic, herbs, tahini and olive oil. Top with extra olive oil, chilli flakes and perhaps some crushed nuts. Make sure you have lots of lovely veg and crackers for dunking and scooping.

Think about textures
You want a mixture of textures on your platter, so be sure to include a variety of creamy (maybe a dip), crunchy (I love mini cucumbers and heritage carrots), juicy (chunks of apples work well, especially if you’re serving cheese on your platter), and crisp (crackers, chicory or lettuce cups) elements.

Don’t limit party platters to savoury

I love to do sweet platters as well as savoury, including a selection of chocolate (dark, milk and white so that everyone is happy!), seasonal fruit and nuts. If you can get hold of nuts in their shell, they look great and there’s something very satisfying about using a nut cracker!

I hope you love creating (and eating) your sharing platters!

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