Everybody loves a cheese board! They can turn a buffet into something special, and look amazing. This is how to make a savoury grazing platter that is healthy and appealing to most people.

Most grazing platters are heavy on processed meat, cheese and crackers. While tasty, they are high in calories and saturated fat. Instead, try using these healthier versions:

• low fat ham or roast beef, thinly sliced
• chicken breast, grilled and cut into bite-sized pieces
• carrot, capsicum, celery sticks
• one or two cheeses – I usually use Brie for the soft cheese and a hard tasty cheese. The one shown in the photo is a vintage cheddar cheese I picked up from the Good Food and Wine show. Because it’s a tasty cheese, a small amount packs the flavour in which means you’ll eat less of it
• cherry tomatoes
• low carb crackers like these Tribe Organics rice crackers and baked pea crisps from Harvest Snaps
• Dips and spreads such as hummous and salsa which are healthier than a lot of other dips such as french onion.
• olives, sundried tomatoes or pickles

You can increase the size to cater for the number of guests you’ll have. You can also put some sweet flavours in like dried apricots, grapes and honey. Nuts such as cashews and almonds go well too. Alternatively, you can make a separate platter for dessert, like my dessert grazing platter.

Experiment with different combinations of flavours, adding in food that you enjoy.