(@champagneang/Instagram)
If you’re looking for a dish that’s perfect for warm-weather entertaining and tastes as good as it looks, the latest food trend to resurface on social media may be for you.
The delightfully geometric checkerboard salad uses just a couple of ingredients, often feta arranged in an alternating pattern with fruit and/or veg — watermelon, olives or tomatoes, for example. But the flavour combinations are endless.
We reached out to two Canadian content creators for their ideas on how to incorporate the dish into your summer repertoire.
Lifestyle content creator Ang Sturino, who lives outside Toronto, is often on the lookout for techniques that have an impact and yet are still accessible.
“I’m always drawn to recipes that feel elevated without being complicated, and this was the perfect example,” she said. “It’s creative, but totally doable for anyone regardless of their cooking experience.”
Sturino said you could combine briny olives with creamy feta. And for the summer, you could swap the olives for watermelon, a classic pairing in the Mediterranean and Middle East.
And beyond the usual flavours, there are so many that would be delicious served up checkerboard-style. Toronto recipe developer Susan Keefe recommended going for something seasonal. “With tomato season coming up, I think heirloom-tomato cubes with mini-bocconcini would be darling,” she said. “Add a sprinkling of microbasil and you have a caprese [checkerboard].”
Keefe also likes the idea of making a bagel bar of sorts by alternating cubes of cream cheese (freeze for 15 minutes before slicing) with smoked salmon rosettes, topped with a caper.
Or you could do prosciutto rosettes instead and combine them with cubes of cantaloupe. “Salty, sweet, refreshing — it’s a classic for a reason,” she said.
For a spin on a berry shortcake, Keefe suggested piping dollops of whipped cream on cubes of toasted angel food cake and creating a patchwork with fresh raspberries.
Any of these would be ideal for summer entertaining, whether you’re hosting a backyard barbecue or a special dinner party for friends.
“A dish with this much visual appeal is meant to be shared,” Keefe said. “She’s a showgirl — she needs a stage!”