19 Jul Elevate Your Artown Picnic: Appetizer Recipes & Tips By Blend
Appetizer Recipes & Tips to Elevate Your Artown Experience
We feel so lucky to live in a city that shows its deep appreciation for art with a month-long celebration of creativity, innovation and the artists who make it possible. Artown is easily our favorite part of the summer, and we want to help you enjoy the rest of July to the fullest with elevated appetizers you can take to park and riverside events! Check out two of our favorite (and simple) appetizer recipes and tips!
Summer Peach and Tomato Salad
This is such a fresh and easy salad to toss together for a Friday night movie in the park picnic or as a sunset snack during a concert at Wingfield. The best part about this salad is that it actually gets better as it marinates, so you won’t need to fret about eating it right away.
What You’ll Need:
- 4-5 heirloom tomatoes
- 2-3 peaches OR nectarines
- Fresh basil leaves
- Fresh tarragon
- Extra virgin olive oil
- White balsamic vinegar
- Salt & pepper
- Cut peaches & tomatoes into bite size chunks.
- Slice basil & tarragon and toss with tomatoes & peaches.
- Add salt & pepper to taste.
- For dressing, use about ¼ cup olive oil and 3 tbsp balsamic vinegar, adjust as necessary to your flavor preference.
- Toss and enjoy!
Summer Charcuterie
A curated charcuterie platter is a summertime picnic dream. The artful selection of cured and smoked meats, hard and soft cheeses, fruit, crackers and breads promises an explosion of flavor that will certainly elevate your evening at Artown. While the options and combinations are endless, it’s not as overwhelming as it might sound. Here are a few quick tips for preparing an amazing charcuterie spread:
- We suggest focusing on a few different flavor profiles — sweet, spicy and tangy are good starting points.
- Charcuterie spreads usually feature pork products, but that doesn’t mean beef products are off limits, far from it. Give bresaola a try.
- With the dairy, you want to have a variety of cheeses from different animal sources: goat’s milk, cow’s milk and sheep’s milk cheeses. As a rule of thumb, it’s also helpful to have at least one mild, medium and sharp cheese.
- For your stone fruits, select something to fit each flavor profile. Something sweet like dates or peaches, something tart like cherries or berries and something spicy, like fennel infused spicy olives.
- If you need a little extra help with wine and beer pairings, check out our recent pairing post.
What You’ll Need
Meats
- Prosciutto
- Pancetta
- Bresaola
- Cured sausage
Cheeses
- Goat cheese
- Sheep’s milk cheese
- Hard and soft cheeses
- Strong and mild cheeses
Fruits
- Cherries
- Peaches
- Strawberries
- Olives
- Blueberries
- Grapes
- Dates
Other Fixings
- Jams or preserves
- Stoneground mustards
- Pickles
- Crackers
- Baguette
- Veggie-based spreads
Happy Artown season from Blend!