Like everything else in 2020, Halloween is going to be different this year, but if you still anticipate trick or treaters and the incessant door answering, you'll want two things: a mask, and the kind of dinner you can grab at and eat bit by bit without it getting gross or cold. The first part is up to you, but I can help you bring a little of the fun magic back to the weirdness of this year's Halloween with a spooky-cool cheese board (or charcuterie board if you prefer) that makes it possible to have dinner while handing out candy.
Halloween snacks
This was last year's Halloween evening cheese board, which was inspired 100% by the orange bell pepper "pumpkin" filled with hummus. My loose theme was orange, black, and purple foods, but I didn't limit myself.
This year's however, is much more robust and theme-y! Choose from the below items to make the most Halloween-colored cheese board possible. Go all out, or mix and match with what you have on hand already — most everyone has a partial bag of mixed nuts in the pantry, or dried fruit. Adjust quantities to how many people (hopefully just the ones you live with this year for safety) will be snacking. Plus, the best part of a cheese board is that the leftovers are easy to store and snack on in the days following!
Halloween snack board shopping list
- Rainbow baby carrots
- Orange bell pepper
- Mini sweet bell peppers
- Snap peas and/or celery
- Hummus or other preferred cold dip
- Crackers
- Pretzel sticks
- Black or red grapes
- Sharp cheddar slices
- Blueberry soft cheese (goat, stilton, etc)
- Nuts
- Sliced pepperoni, salami, or charcuterie of choice
- Dried apricots or mango slices
- Extra credit: purple asparagus or purple bell peppers, purple and/or orange cauliflower
How to assemble a snack board
A few years ago I detailed how to create a cheese board in this post, and I still recommend going to a grocery store like Lidl, Aldi, or Trader Joe's if you can, because they have a more interesting variety of snacky goods. You'll also want a few ramekins or small bowls to corral smaller items, and a cheese spreader for the goat or any other soft cheeses. Of course, you'll need a good paring knife to carve your pepper, and a big wide platter or wooden board to plate the entire spread.
There's no one right way to make a cheese board, but one of the guiding principles I follow is to group like things together. For example, if you're going to put a slice of salami and a piece of cheese on a cracker, they need to be not on opposite ends of the board. Things that will be eaten alone can go anywhere as filler, such as nuts or fruits. Vegetables and crackers that will be dipped in the hummus should be closer to it, and the dip should be on the outer edge, so there won't be drips across other foods. Hummus on grapes sounds gross!
Taller items should go on outer back edges too, like if you have tall pretzel sticks or pirouette cookie sticks. And of course, everything should be easily accessible, so don't jam thing up together so that removing one piece causes a bunch of other things to fall over.
How to carve a bell pepper pumpkin
Choose an orange bell pepper that has one wide, flatter side. This is where the face will get carved. Make sure your knife is nice and sharp. Use a small paring knife to cut two evenly spaced triangles for eyes. Push the triangles out and discard or snack on them. Then under that, carve a mouth and push it out to reveal the void that will create your pumpkin bell pepper's face. You can get crazy and put snaggleteeth in it, or you can go simple and just carve a thin sliver of a smile ... or a smirk.
If you don't want your bell pepper to look like it's vomiting dip... uh, well. Choose a thicker dip. I have black bean hummus in mine, above, and didn't think in the moment about how black bean hummus is typically thinner than regular hummus. So choose your dip wisely, or if you like the effect, black bean hummus may be exactly what you're looking for. Either way, the dip should be a chilled one, nothing hot or warm. This snack tray is meant to be eaten on over the course of an hour or two, so everything should be able to survive as it sits at room temperature for a bit.
Snack board assembly video
Wondering where to start with a cheese board assembly? Watch this video to see how I start with the larger items, then group like things from there and finish off with fillers.
