Themed Boards

Hey gang!

Last night we had a birthday dinner for my Mom at our beach club.

I wanted to make one of her favorite casual meals - pulled chicken tacos. Because I’d be making the meal at home and transporting it down the street in my car, I wanted to make the meal portable and yet still beautiful in it’s presentation. So I made two boards - one with all the toppings and the other with everything you’d put the toppings on - hard shells, soft shells, Bibb lettuce cups and tortilla chips. Boards can be a great way of making any kind of meal beautiful and portable - not just charcuterie.

For these, I started with some square wax butcher paper that I ordered on amazon. I layed out all the toppings I’d be using and arranged them in different size bowls inside the board, filling all the gaps with veggies I had that went with the taco theme - key limes, tomatoes etc. I knew I wouldn’t have enough room to fit the taco shells and wraps on the same board so I layed out another board for that. As usual, I added some flowers.

I prepped the toppings in the bowls and stuck them in the fridge, pulling them out to arrange on the boards 30 minutes before I needed to head out. They fit in the back of my car and it was the most beautiful casual dinner at sunset. The best part - cleanup took less than 10 minutes!

This pulled chicken taco recipe is from Kristen Cavallari’s cookbook, True Comfort. Also from her cookbook is the avocado crema recipe as one of the toppings. A delicious family favorite in a unique and beautiful way