Asked to make starter for 7 people, no oven - help please!

[Blackbird1234]

I've been asked to make a vegetarian starter for 7 people for Christmas day. Where I'm currently staying doesn't have an oven. Doesn't need to be anything fancy.

Any ideas?

@mildtomoderate

Figs, Parma ham and rocket, with a balsamic dressing. Peng.

Veggie parma ham??

@Lockdowninfinity

Charcuterie is the obvious choice for me

Obvious even as OP specified vegetation

@Blackbird1234

daisiesandpie.co.uk/caprese-skewers/ ?

@Bloodypunkrockers
Some vegetarians will eat wild caught salmon as it has reached the end of its life cycle and is going back upstream to spawn (and die).

People are completely free to eat fish if they want. But however they justify it, they are not vegetarians if they do so. And I wish they'd stop calling themselves vegetarians as it's extremely tedious as a vegetarian to have to keep saying 'No, I don't eat fish'

Oh, I'd forgotten melon boats! I always had one (slice of melon, cocktail stick with an orange slice and a glacé cherry) or orange juice as a starter when I was a kid. DB always had prawn cocktail which invariably came in a wine glass. Brilliant for a young child!

Anyway OP, back to your starter! How about blinis? I'm allergic to fish and had beetroot and horseradish ones once (should have had some fishy thing too, but I skipped that!) they were lovely. I think you could do a selection of flavours with houmous or sour cream or whatever.

Be aware pesto is not vegetarian if it has parmesan in - other hard cheese is OK, but real parmesan has rennet in it.

We’re having melon

@Sgtmajormummy

If your vegetarians will eat fish: smoked wild salmon on good brown bread with plenty of salted butter. Assemble it when you get there.

If not: French onion soup. You can make the cheesy croutons in advance so you only need to heat up the soup on the day.

Vegetarians don’t eat fish. That would be pescatarians.

Goat cheese salad. Bag of posh salad leaves. Beetroot cut into batons. Pan toasted pine nuts. Goats cheese broken up and tossed through. Drizzle over balsamic reduction. You can do it on the hob or buy it premade. Yum!!

You can put the goats cheese onto a toasted muffin if you want it a bit more filling. Grill the goats cheese on top too.

Oh I forgot fresh basil!!

This thread is brilliant. “Must be vegetarian and I don’t have an oven”
Responses “here are 1800 meat dishes that need to be cooked”

bruschette with basil, olives and mozzarella

Smoked salmon on something?

Jamie Oliver does a tomato salad - called 'mothership' or something. You chop the tomatoes up and leave them to drain through a muslin or sieve - it sort of concentrates the flavour, it's lovely. You could toss with some torn oup mozzarella and Basil and a balsamic dressing?

Or an alcoholic one, with strained tomato juices which are a sort of translucent pale pink he makes a bloody mary type drink, it looks delicious I'll see if I can find it...
bloody mary thing

salad

Hmm bloody mary / tomato consomme link isn't working...
www.google.com/amp/s/www.food.com/amp/recipe/tomato-consomm-jamie-oliver-320279

Vegetarians don’t eat fish!

I would just take a nice loaf of interesting bread and a selection of olives. Agree a starter before a Christmas meal is bizarre. Surely you’re still full from chocolate/ breakfast.

Antipasti/dips and crudités.

Vegetarian pate eg mushroom one layer, sun dried tomatoes one layer spinach one layer

My family has always done a caprese salad as a Christmas starter with some nice bread. Easy to prepare too and no oven/hob required.

@WeatherwaxLives I’d completely forgotten that orange juice could be ordered as a starter! Prawn cocktail, melon or orange juice was the standard in the 80s. And have now just decided that’s what I’m doing for Christmas Day. Treat my kids to some retro!

@Sgtmajormummy

If your vegetarians will eat fish: smoked wild salmon on good brown bread with plenty of salted butter. Assemble it when you get there.

If not: French onion soup. You can make the cheesy croutons in advance so you only need to heat up the soup on the day.

Vegetarians don't eat fish. If they eat fish, they are not vegetarian.

French onion soup is made with beef stock so also isn't vegetarian.

I wouldn't make soup unless it's a really light one, it's too filling for Christmas Day.
How about blinis with a veggie topping?
www.thevegspace.co.uk/recipe-vegetarian-canapes-beetroot-sour-cream-walnut-blinis/

@Sgtmajormummy

If your vegetarians will eat fish: smoked wild salmon on good brown bread with plenty of salted butter. Assemble it when you get there.

If not: French onion soup. You can make the cheesy croutons in advance so you only need to heat up the soup on the day.

Vegetarians do NOT eat fish. I've been asked this countless times since being a veggie. Did it used to be a living creature? Is it dead? Then it is not vegetarian.

Caprese salad

Charcuterie boards are a bit shit without meat.
Do a really nice soup. Homemade soup can taste really special with lovely crusty bread.

And the reason orange juice used to be considered a starter is when it first appeared it was made by someone actually squeezing oranges in the kitchen to extract the juice. But then cartons of orange juice became available and every small hotel started offering orange juice as a starter.

This salad is genuinely amazing. It's good for party food and transports well (it won't wilt and gets better the longer the dressing is on the broccoli)

cookieandkate.com/favorite-broccoli-salad-recipe/