The best meals are the ones we share with the people we love! Try our ideas for sharing food over the next few pages

• Recipe from Vegan Boards by Kate Kasbee, ￡18.99 Harvard Common Press

Loaded Sweet Potato Fries Board

Serves: 6

(Fills a 20-inch (50 cm) round board) Make your favourite restaurant appetizer at home with the Loaded Sweet Potato Fries Board. Sweet potato waffle fries in particular, with their wide and flat shape, are the best type of fries for eating with toppings. Keep it simple with ketchup or load up your pile of fries with savoury sauces and veggies. The combination of Vegan Cheese Sauce and Cincinnati-Style Vegan Chili is sure to be popular, so consider making more than you think is necessary.

• 1 batch Vegan Cheese Sauce (see recipe)

• 500g (17.6 oz) Cincinnati-Style Vegan Chili (see recipe) or 1 can vegan chili, warmed

• 120g (4.2 oz) ketchup

• 1 bunch spring onions (scallions), thinly sliced

• 150g (5.2 oz) sweetcorn, warmed

• 1 (420g/15oz) can black beans, drained, rinsed, and warmed

• 210g (7.4 oz) chopped tomato

• 240g (8.4 oz) salsa

• 1 (560g/20oz) bag sweet potato waffle fries

• 1 (420g/15oz) bag frozen sweet potato fries

1 Set two bowls in the centre of the board as placeholders for the Vegan Cheese Sauce and Cincinnati-Style Vegan Chili.

2 Make the Vegan Cheese Sauce and Cincinnati-Style Vegan Chili and cover to keep warm. If you’re using canned vegan chili, simmer it on the stove according to the can directions.

3 Squirt the ketchup into a small bowl.

4 Transfer the sliced spring onions, corn, black beans, tomato, and salsa to slightly larger bowls. Place them on the board next to the chili and cheese sauce bowls.

5 Bake the sweet potato waffle fries and sweet potato fries according to the package directions. Allow them to cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet before transferring them to the board.

6 Pour the warm Vegan Cheese Sauce and Cincinnati-Style Vegan Chili into their respective bowls and serve immediately.

Vegan Cheese Sauce

Makes: 2½ cups (600 ml)

• 70g (2.4 oz) raw cashews

• 110g (3.8 oz) peeled and roughly chopped gold potato

• 60g (2.1 oz) peeled and roughly chopped carrot

• 80g (2.8 oz) roughly chopped yellow onion

• 360ml (12 fl oz) water

• 2 tsp miso paste

• ½ tsp Dijon mustard

• 1 tbsp (15ml) lemon juice

• ½ tsp paprika

• 2 tbsp (12g) nutritional yeast

• 1 tbsp (8g) tapioca starch

• 1 tsp salt

1 Combine the cashews, potato, carrot, and onion in a medium saucepan. Pour the water over the ingredients and bring to a boil over medium heat.

2 Cover, reduce the heat to low, and simmer for 12 minutes, until the veggies are very tender when pricked with a fork. Remove from the heat and leave the cover on the saucepan for another 5 minutes.