A biome board (with your bubbly) 🥂
Ditch the crisps this Christmas for nibbles with fibre, polyphenols, omega 3, and live bacteria for gut health
I don’t know about you, but I just see a bowl of crisps at a party and there’s no stop button.
Sip, crunch, sip, crunch. Glug!
No fibre, no polyphenols, no probotic bacteria, just a mouthful of crunch, salt and oil - which happens to go very well with a glass of bubbly.
However I’m going to share here some ideas to replace empty-calorie crisps to go with Cava/Champagne/Crémant.
Welcome to biome bites - (my name for canapés good for your microbiome).
Imagine, you can use drinks parties to do some good for your body?
As in feed your microbiome fibre, polyphenols, omega 3 oils, and live bacteria (which go on to help your immune system and digestion work better too).
Plus the fibre and good oils temper the alcohol hit (unlike crisps which just melt in the mouth without satiety and fuel further consumption).
In my experience a biome bite fills you up a bit, so you get less drunk, and you stay more in touch with your food choices as the event goes on. (So maybe less likely to over do it?).
It’s a win win.
You can design your own with foods in a mixture of price ranges and sources - from regular supermarkets to farmers’ markets and health food stores to online stores.
You literally get a board, or a big plate, or tray and scatter/or lie lots of mouth-size pieces of food in lines.
It’s different to the popular charcuterie boards - as I make these a no processed meat zone.
So here we go…and some pics of combos to inspire…
A vegan ferment (which tastes like blue cheese)
Have you seen this by Nettle Foods? Made from raw activated fermented cashew nuts. Tastes a bit like Roquefort cheese. Sold in health food stores. Expensive and a bit of a treat. Extremely delicious. You could put on some sourdough crackers like Peter’s Yard ones, or if catering for someone who can’t eat gluten, put a blob on a chicory leaf (which contains prebiotic inulin fibre) with a walnut (with more fibre and anti-inflammatory omega 3 oil) squished on top.
I have this pic ⬇️ on my phone of an event, to give you an idea of a chicory leaf as the canapé carrier.
Btw purple chicory leaves are another option with a blob of something tangy on top (eg guacamole - for more fibre and colour). This Wahaca guacamole recipe looks tasty - and gets your plant diversity up by another 4 items (red onion, chillies, coriander, lime).
This is what I call a biome board ⬇️ . I fill a plate with rows of Mediterranean polyphenol and fibre-rich foods for you and yout bacteria to munch on.
On this one I also put some pickled cucumbers, membrillo, and dried figs - as well as cheese and olives. This year I have made some home made fermented pickled cucumbers based on a recipe by
, so there will be more probiotics for our guts there.
This board is a great way to get different types of fibre and plant colour into you that aren’t usually in your every day range and it’s quick and easy to assemble. Just have some toothpicks and small napkins at the ready for people.
Remember the microbiome thrives on variety to make you healthy.
So if you were filling out a diversity chart for a week (to try to get your range up and beyond the 30+ for good gut health) the membrilllo would get you quince ✅ and fig ✅ to stretch your range on the chart. (See below for my chart).
Other things to put on your board…
Olives, sometimes referred to in research papers as a “medical food” no less. Contain plant chemicals like hydroxytyrosol and oleic acid, fibre, vitamin E (for your skin) and mono-saturated fats which are good for heart health.
Raw cheeses
Manchego, Comté, Gruyère, Roquefort, Parmesan - these are some of the raw, unpasteurised cheeses - which carry live bacteria in them which are good for gut health. Ask for raw varieties wherever you are reading this.
If you’re short of time just cut up Parmesan in pieces. Tastes lovely with bubbly probably because of the salt and fat (so says
doyenne of matching food and drink and I agree.
Finally, my last party trick of the evening are rye pumpernickel circles for the gluten eaters among you.
I order them online from German Deli. Adding rye to your day - adds another different grain to your diversity chart.
They are so easy.
Take one piece, smear butter on top (you need butter so the topping has something to cling to and the rye doesn’t go soggy).
Then build on top.
In Germany it’s common to mash quark with fresh chopped herbs like chives and parsley, with a bit of grated lemon skin (antioxidants and flavour!) and a pinch of sea salt.
Then layer on top whatever you fancy. Eg some omega 3 oily fish such as an anchovy, a bit of smoked salmon, pickled herrings and some slices of red onion for garnish.
Or try some sliced boiled eggs (which may have omega 3 if fed flax seeds or wind-ranging diet) with roast cherry tomatoes on top. See pic at the start of this article.
Here’s a pic for some more rye pumpernickel inspiration - be creative and use it as a chance to broaden your range!
If you make a board or tray of them, be sure to finish off by sprinkling some sprouted veg on top. Looks pretty and sprouting makes veg easier to digest. (This is because, the anti-nutrients, the difficult to digest parts of the plant, are reduced by the germination process, making the absorption of minerals from them easier when eaten).
Also means more variety to add to your diversity chart for your biome (alfafa, clover, broccoli, radish).
Enjoy and please share your ideas wth us all too…
PS Here’s my Diversity Challenge Chart - in case you need it!
PPS For those who are new here (a very warm welcome!) This is an explainer on the basics of gut health.
Now this is so fun, so pretty and so alliterative! Who can ignore a biome board? But I have yet to receive my invitation to this delicious event ..... 😋
😍brilliant! Biome boards! You are going to be so sad when you've eaten all of your pickles.
My recent research on mustard would suggest that homemade fermented mustard dollops would also be tasty on a biome board!