Heinen’s Holiday Charcuterie Board

The following recipe was created in collaboration with Lauren Schulte. To see more of her bites and meals, visit her Instagram @TheBiteSizePantry. 

What better way to bring those you love together than over a festive charcuterie board with Heinen’s premium cheeses, crackers and spreads?

I love creating grazing platters when I entertain, but they often require a lot of thought and planning. Lucky for us, it’s easy to build a premium board by shopping Heinen’s Specialty Cheese, Deli, Produce and Grocery Departments.

Many of the tasty cheeses, spreads and crackers featured on this board are Heinen’s brand. I’ve been buying Heinen’s brand products for years and have always admired the quality, so it was no surprise when I learned that Heinen’s experts work hand-in-hand with artisans to create the best products to sport their label. You know you’re getting the good stuff when you pick up a Heinen’s product – they won’t settle for anything less than extraordinary.

When creating a grazing platter for your next seasonal get together, leave the cheeses in their wrappers and remove them once the platter is ready to be set out for guests. This way, the cheese stays fresher longer and doesn’t dry out. Looking for a few cheese recommendations? You can’t go wrong with these picks:

• Heinen’s French Brie – I love the creamy texture and mild flavor of this brie. It pairs deliciously with Heinen’s fruit crisp crackers and sour cherry spread.
• Heinen’s 9-Year Vintage Cheddar – This Wisconsin-made cheddar has a great bite to it. It is by far one of my favorite sharp cheddars.
• Heinen’s Isle of Man Grass Fed Red Cheddar – Specially crafted on the Isle of Man between Ireland and Great Britain, this new cheddar is more mild-tasting and reaps all of the delicious benefits of a grass-fed diet.
• Heinen’s Grass Fed Vintage White Cheddar – This cheese rounds out the board with its bright color and flavor!

It’s also helpful to construct the cured meat “rivers” beforehand so that they can be quickly and easily transferred to the board at serving time. I like to place one big “river” through the center of the board and then nest a few more along the edges and corners.

Grazing platters also make great hostess gifts! Simply assemble the board with the wrappers on the cheeses and lids on the spreads, wrap the board in plastic and hand it off to your host or hostess when you arrive. I love doing this, especially at the holidays.