Bonjour! It’s Elise from The Curiosity Project, and I’m here to talk about lunch. If you have a small person at home, you know the truth: lunchtimes can get pretty monotonous. I’m always hunting for ways to turn the mundane into an adventure, so today I’m sharing one idea for making lunchtime into a fun culinary event: the charcuterie lunch board!
You can gather the ingredients in advance and then let your helper arrange each element on the board. Kids love to use real, authentic things, so I let him use my smallest, Sam-sized wooden board. He also loves to use the cheese knives. The ones pictured are not sharp enough to be dangerous, but they do work: he can slice the cheese himself, which he loves to do. (Use your discretion with the knives! A small pastry cutter can also be a safe option.)
I try to keep a variety of ingredients on hand for fast charcuterie lunches: a variety of meats (salami, soppresata, proscuitto), hard cheese (Sam loves pecorino and grana padano), one soft or semi-soft cheese (brie, gouda), fresh fruits (grapes, berries), dried fruits, olives, sun-dried tomatoes, nuts (almonds, walnuts, pine nuts), and a crunchy grain to round it out (crostini or whole-grain crackers).
Finish with freshly picked herbs from your herb garden, a tiny sprinkle of crunchy sea salt (Sam’s favorite part!), and a few grinds of black pepper. Now, dig in. Voila! Doesn’t that make lunchtime seem a bit more interesting?