The holidays can be stressful, so take the pressure down a notch and feed and entertain with a decorative cheese platter. Cheese is a perfect accompaniment to cocktails, an inviting appetizer or, heck, a casual help-yourself dinner. And with a little thought, a cheese board can take center stage on the holiday table. Everything you need for a cheese board can be purchased ahead, ready to prepare and arranged with simple tips.

Try to balance your cheese selection in strength, texture, flavor and color. As a simple rule of thumb, select four to six cheeses, depending on how many people you are serving. Vary the colors, textures, strengths and milk source, such as a fresh goat cheese, a bloomy pungent or washed rind cheese, a wedge of piquant alpine cheese or butterscotch-y Gouda, a nutty Pecorino (sheep cheese) and streaky blues. Mix the shapes as well, choosing bricks, wedges and molded rounds. And be sure to serve each cheese with its own knife.

Use the farmers market for decorative inspiration and edible garnishes. Arrange the cheese on large leafy greens, such as chard and collard greens, and decorate with curly, frizzy leaves such as purple kale, chicories and frisee. Weave smaller decorative sprigs of herbs and edible flowers around the cheese as aromatic garnishes. Hollow out a small red cabbage or a radicchio head to use as a serving vessel for nuts and olives.

And don’t just stick to cheese. Add savory slices of salami and cured meats accompanied by cornichons. Sweeten up the board with colorful nibbles such as fresh grapes, crab apples, pomegranate arils and persimmon wedges, or dried cranberries, figs and apricots. Serve with a jar of chutney or jam. Add a wedge of honeycomb or a little glass of honey for drizzling.

Select a variety of crackers, crisps and breads for texture, color and consistency: hearty fruit and nut bread, rustic baguette slices, olive oil crackers, seeded crisp breads -- and don't forget to add some gluten-free options, just in case.

Arrange the cheese on a background of black slate or a weathered cutting board, or place a cutting board in a large wide basket. Arrange smaller wooden plates or decorative bowls on the boards to contain runny cheese and fill with crackers, olives and spiced nuts, such as these Bourbon Spiced Pecans.

Bourbon Spiced Pecans

Active Time: 25 minutes

Total Time: 25 minutes

Yield: Makes 2 cups

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

1/4 cup bourbon

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon cayenne

2 cups pecan halves

Heat the oven to 325 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment.

Combine the sugar, bourbon, salt, cumin, cinnamon and cayenne in a medium bowl and whisk to blend. Add the pecans and stir to thoroughly coat.

Pour the pecans onto the prepared baking sheet and spread out in one layer. Bake until browned and crusty, 18 to 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and slide the parchment and pecans onto a rack to cool completely. Break the pecans apart and store in an airtight container.

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For a long time, I steered clear of tomatillos -- not because of an aversion, but I simply didn’t know what do with them. Well, I am here to tell you that these little tomato-esque “vegetables” are easy to use and a delight to eat. Their flavor is tart and vegetal with a hint of fruit, and they add pucker-y brightness to salsas and stews.

Tomatillos are in fact classified as a fruit (like tomatoes) and are a member of the nightshade family. They are wrapped in a papery husk, which, when removed, reveals a crab apple-sized green fruit that resembles a tomato. Tomatillos are native to Central America, which helps to explain why they are a prominent ingredient in salsas. If you’ve had a green salsa or salsa verde, then you’ve had a tomatillo.

A fresh tomatillo should be firm, unblemished and bright green in color. They can be eaten raw or cooked. When eaten raw, their tartness will be pronounced. Roasting tempers their acidity, coaxing out their natural sweetness, while adding a smoky, charred note.

To prepare a tomatillo, remove the paper husk and wash the fruit to remove the sticky film that coats the surface. When roasting, halve the tomatillos crosswise and broil, cut side down (or grill skin-side up) to get a light char on the skins. You want those skins in the salsa for the extra flavor.

The salsa in this recipe can be enjoyed straight up on a chip, spooned over tacos and casseroles, and dolloped over grilled meat, fish, poultry and vegetables. In this recipe, it’s the base for a simple and bright chicken stew. For extra depth of flavor, I’ve marinated the chicken in citrus and herbs to amplify the salsa.

Tomatillo Chicken Stew

Active Time: 1 hour

Total Time: 1 hour, plus marinating time

Yield: Serves: 4 to 6

Marinade:

3 garlic cloves

1/2 cup fresh orange juice

1/4 cup fresh lime juice

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon sweet paprika

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts or thighs, halved

Salsa:

1 pound tomatillos

1 to 2 jalapeno peppers, seeded, halved lengthwise

2 garlic cloves, chopped

1 small white onion, coarsely chopped

1 small poblano pepper, seeded, coarsely chopped

1 cup packed cilantro leaves and tender stems

1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste

1 tablespoon olive oil

Cooked long-grain rice

2 scallions, white and green parts thinly sliced

Chopped cilantro for garnish

Marinate the chicken: Whisk the marinade ingredients in a large bowl. Add the chicken and stir to coat. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to 24 hours.

Make the salsa: Remove the papery husks from the tomatillos. Rinse the tomatillos to remove the sticky film. Halve the tomatillos cross-wise and arrange with the jalapenos, cut sides down, on a rimmed baking sheet. Place under the oven broiler and broil until the skins are lightly charred, about 5 minutes. Cool slightly and then combine the tomatillos, jalapenos and the remaining salsa ingredients in a food processor and pulse to achieve a salsa consistency.

Heat the oven to 350 degrees.

Heat the oil in a large skillet. Remove the chicken from the marinade and discard the marinade. In batches, cook the chicken on both sides to give them a little color, 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer to a plate.

Pour the salsa into the pan, scraping up any brown bits. Nestle the chicken into the salsa. Transfer the skillet to the oven and cook until the chicken is cooked through, about 25 minutes.

To serve, ladle the chicken and sauce over the rice. Serve garnished with the scallions and cilantro.

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Sometimes, all we need is soup. It’s not a cure-all, but sometimes it's just right. A pot of soup feeds a family; it warms and nourishes, and fills our kitchen with delicious aromas. It’s also an efficient meal, using up vegetables and leftovers and relying on pantry staples. It’s homey and undemanding, yet with a few key ingredients, a simple pot of soup can magically transform into a satisfying and delicious one-pot meal.

Minestrone is a classic Italian vegetable soup, brimming with diced vegetables swirling in a tomato-infused stock. It’s rustic, filling and layered with flavor. The stock can be vegetable or chicken, to which tomatoes are added -- not to dominate, but just enough to infuse the stock with brightness and complexity. Carrots and onions form the base for the vegetables, often with celery or fennel added to the aromatic mix.

From that point, other vegetables can be added to your liking. Chopped leafy greens, diced root vegetables and zucchini are all great contenders. In addition to vegetables, pasta and/or beans are frequently included in minestrone, providing satisfying substance, and when the two ingredients are combined, they create are an economical source of protein.

A key final ingredient pulls this soup together: a hunk of cheese rind, either Parmesan or Pecorino Romano. Cheese rind is a wonderful secret ingredient to a tomato-and-vegetable soup (and a terrific way to use up any cheese remnants). As the rind simmers in the stock, it will break down, imparting a kick of salt and an umami depth of flavor, while adding body to the soup.

Finally, when prepping the soup, try to uniformly chop and dice the vegetables. Not only is it visually appealing, but it somehow makes the soup taste even better -- perhaps because it's easier to get a little bite of everything in each spoonful.

Italian Minestrone

Active Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Yield: Serves 4

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 medium yellow onion, chopped

2 carrots, chopped

1 small fennel bulb, trimmed, fronds removed, diced

1 medium yellow potato, peeled, diced

1 small zucchini, seeded and diced

4 to 6 cups vegetable or chicken stock

1 (15-ounce) can chopped plum tomatoes

1 bay leaf

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1 teaspoon salt, or to taste

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 (2-inch) chunk Parmesan or Pecorino Romano cheese rind

1 (15-ounce) can cannellini or northern beans, drained

1 heaping cup coarsely chopped greens, such as Swiss chard, kale or spinach leaves

Fresh Italian parsley leaves for garnish

Finely grated Parmesan or Pecorino Romano cheese for serving

Heat the oil in a soup pot over medium heat. Add the onion and saute until beginning to soften, about 2 minutes. Add the carrots and fennel and continue to saute until the vegetables brighten in color and are crisp-tender, 2 to 3 minutes more. Add the potato and zucchini and briefly saute, about 1 minute. Add the 4 cups stock, the tomatoes, bay leaf, oregano, thyme, salt and black pepper. If the soup is too chunky, add more stock to your desired consistency.

Bring the soup to a simmer and submerge the cheese rind in it. Partially cover the pot and simmer over medium-low heat until the potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes. Stir in the beans and greens and simmer until the greens wilt, about 2 minutes more.

Ladle the soup into warm bowls. Garnish with parsley and serve with the grated cheese for sprinkling.

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