Charcuterie Picnic Boxes

These charcuterie picnic boxes are filled with delicious cheeses, fruit, nuts, deli meats and crunchy vegetables. Portable snacking kicked up a tasty notch! 

Whenever our daughters fly out to visit us, we always prepare “car snacks” to be eaten on the way home from the airport. These usually include cheeses, salami, ham and vegetables like baby carrots. 

When I saw the Sunday FunDay theme of charcuterie boards for today’s event, I decided to make an elevated version of our “car snacks” which would also be perfect for road trips or picnics on the go.

As you can see from the photos, I used 28oz. Hefty containers but truly, any short, wide container would work. Do make sure the lids snap on securely though to keep the food from drying out and for ease of transport.

Charcuterie Picnic Boxes

These can be made ahead of time and stored in a refrigerator. Add the crackers just before you hit the road so they don’t get soft and stale. 

Ingredients

Baby cos or little gem lettuce leaves

Sliced meats – salami, prosciutto, summer sausage, bresaola, etc.

At least two semi soft or hard cheeses 

Dried and/or fresh fruit – blackberries, dried figs or apricots, grapes, etc.

Bite-sized vegetables -radishes, baby carrots, grape tomatoes, little pickles, etc.

Nuts – walnuts or pecans work great

Optional: stuffed peppers or olives from your grocery store deli counter

Your favorite crackers

Method

Line a container with leaves of baby cos or little gem lettuce.

Add in wedges of cheese like Camembert and slices of, perhaps, extra mature cheddar.

Roll your sliced meats or form them into little flowers and tuck them in between the cheeses. 

Add in the rest of your ingredients, trying to make a pretty mix of flavors and colors. For an extra cheese/veggie element, I added blue cheese stuffed olives from my grocery store deli counter. Little radishes add crunch and color. 

Finally, pulling the lettuce leaves forward slightly to make room, tuck crackers around the sides of the container. (See note above ingredients list if not serving immediately.)

Happy trails and enjoy! 

It’s Sunday FunDay and today we are sharing our creative charcuterie boards. Many thanks to our host, Mayuri from Mayuri’s Jikoni. Check out the links below.

• Culinary Cam: A Grazing Board for Gratitude 
• Food Lust People Love : Charcuterie Picnic Boxes 
• Our Good Life: Christmas Grazing Board 
• Karen's Kitchen Stories: Christmas Tree Charcuterie Board 
• Mayuri's Jikoni: Mexican Vegetarian Grazing Board 
• Sneha's Recipe : Sandwich Charcuterie Board 
• Palatable Pastime : Thanksgiving Turkey Charcuterie Board 
• Amy's Cooking Adventures: Turkey Charcuterie Board 
• A Day in the Life on the Farm: Turkey Trot Sandwich Board 

 

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.

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Zucchini Feta Muffins #MuffinMonday

Finely grated zucchini and crumbled feta add flavor and moisture to these tasty zucchini feta muffins. They make an excellent breakfast or snack. 

For the last several years we have enjoyed having a young couple live next door to us. Through the pandemic, the birth of their first baby girl, winter ice storms and summer hurricanes, we have supported each other. 

We were so excited for them this summer when they found a bigger house in our same neighborhood to buy but very sad for us. We miss having them next door. 

But, in better news, we have a new neighbor! She has moved into Houston to be closer to family and we are looking forward to getting to know her. Of course, I’ve already baked her some welcome cookies, but I decided perhaps she needed some muffins as well. 

Zucchini Feta Muffins 

This recipe makes 9 regular muffins. I highly recommend buying feta in brine and crumbling it yourself. I find the already crumbled feta much drier. Plus what you don't use keeps fresh in the brine for ages.

Ingredients

1 small zucchini (approximate weight after removing seeds: 120g)

1 1/2 cups or 188g flour

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

1/4 teaspoon cayenne

3 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 cup or 120ml milk

1 egg

4 oz or 112g crumbled feta, divided

Method

Cut the ends off of the zucchini, then cut it in half and scoop the seeds out and discard (or compost) them. 

Grate the zucchini onto a paper towel. 

Fold the paper towel over to cover the zucchini and roll it up in a cloth towel. Wring as much juice as you can out, set aside. 

Preheat the oven to 350°F or 180°C. Line 9 holes of a 12-cup muffin pan with paper muffin cases. Or use nine silicone muffin cups on a baking tray.

Separate out a small amount of the crumbled feta for topping. 

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, sea salt and cayenne. 

And in the grated zucchini and feta. 

Use a fork to gently mix the zucchini and feta into the flour to coat. 

In another mixing bowl, whisk together the olive oil, egg and milk. 

Pour the wet ingredients in to the dry and fold until just combined.

Divide the batter among the muffin holes and top each with a little of the reserved feta crumbles. 

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden and springy to the touch. 

Leave to cool on a wire rack.

Serve warm or at room temperature. Share some with a neighbor! 

Enjoy!

It’s the last Monday of the month so that means it’s time for Muffin Monday! Check out the lovely muffins my blogger friends are sharing today. 

• Chocolate Chip Nut Muffins from Passion Kneaded
• Fruit Curd Muffins from A Messy Kitchen
• Mocha Oatmeal Muffins from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Pumpkin Apple Muffins from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Zucchini Feta Muffins from Food Lust People Love

#MuffinMonday is a group of muffin loving bakers who get together once a month to bake muffins. You can see all of our lovely muffins by following our Pinterest board. Updated links for all of our past events and more information about Muffin Monday can be found on our home page.

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Creamy Shrimp Risotto - Instant Pot

Quick to cook but bursting with fabulous flavor, this creamy shrimp risotto is made in an Instant Pot, with garlic herb Boursin added for extra richness.

I love eating risotto of any kind. It’s always a welcome bowl of comfort food, especially as the weather starts to turn chilly. 

Some days I love standing next to the warm stove, ladling in stock and stirring until the arborio rice releases its starch and turns into creamy wonderfulness worthy of the time and effort. 

And some days I don’t! That is when I turn to my handy Instant Pot which makes an equally lovely bowl of risotto, comparatively speaking, in mere minutes. It’s creamy even without the Boursin but don’t skip that ingredient! It adds herbs and a subtle cheesiness that makes each spoonful so very good. 

Creamy Shrimp Risotto - Instant Pot

The weight of the shrimp is AFTER peeling and deveining. I buy the already deveined easy-to-peel ones without heads. I used Knorr shrimp cubes to make the stock. This recipe is adapted from one on Food Network.

Ingredients

1 shallot

5 cloves garlic

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

Fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 1/2 cups or 300g arborio rice

1/2 cup or 120ml dry white wine

3 1/2 cups or 840ml seafood stock

1 lb or 450g peeled and deveined large shrimp

3/4 cup or 85g frozen peas, thawed

1 Boursin cheese, 5.2 oz or 150g, at room temperature (see photo below)

Zest 1 lemon, divided

Optional to serve: grated Parmesan

Method

Mince the shallot and garlic. 

Set an Instant Pot to sauté on the medium setting. When the pot is hot, add 2 tablespoons of the butter, then add the shallot, garlic and a good pinch of salt and a few grinds of black pepper. Cook, stirring, until softened, about 3 minutes. 

Stir in the rice and cook until the rice is toasted, about 3 minutes. 

Stir in the wine, scraping the bottom of the pot, and cook until evaporated, about 30 seconds. Turn off the sauté function. 

[As you can imagine, photos of that step were nothing but steamy blurs!]

Stir the seafood stock into the pot. 

Close the lid and turn the steam valve to the sealing position. Set the pot to cook on high pressure for 5 minutes. 

While the rice is cooking, season the shrimp with salt and pepper. 

When the time is up, turn the valve to the venting position and release the steam completely. Be careful of any remaining steam and unlock the lid.

Add the seasoned shrimp in a single layer on top to the pot along with the peas. 

Turn the Instant Pot to “warm” mode. Close the lid and let the shrimp cook for 5 minutes. (Set a timer as the Instant Pot will count up but, at least on mine, there’s no way to set it to go off warm at a certain time.) 

Stir the shrimp into the rice, close the lid and leave on warm for 5 more minutes. (Set another timer!)

Add in the Boursin, lemon zest and the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter to the risotto.

Stir until the cheese and butter are melted. 

Divide among bowls. Top with lemon zest. Serve with grated Parmesan cheese, if desired.

Enjoy!

It's Sunday FunDay and today we are sharing our favorite risotto recipes. Check out the links below. 

• Creamy Shrimp Risotto - Instant Pot from Food Lust People Love
• Just in Time for Halloween: Spooky Risotto from Culinary Cam
• Risotto ai Funghi from Our Good Life
• Risotto with Chicken and Cranberries from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Shrimp Risotto from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Vegetarian Creamy Mushroom Risotto from Sneha's Recipe

 

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.

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