Please can anyone suggest some easy starter recipes suitable for enertaining?

[LittleDoe]

Going away with family next weekend (self catering) and I need to take / make a starter for of the nights. Limitations as follows!

No mushrooms (BIL hates them)
Needs to be either made in advance or easy to prepare when I'm there (bearing in mind kitchen I'm not used to etc)
Am bfeeding DD so can't spend ages in kitchen as need to feed her before she goes down for the night (6.30/7pm) i.e. around dinner time
Certain family members are major foodies so it needs to be reasonably impressive

Not sure I want to do soup and I can't make pastry to save my life. Maybe some kind of hearty/warm salad? Is prawn cocktail really naff?

Thank you!

Sorry about typos, baby on knee!

M&S do a lovely wasabi and broad bean dip (or you can make your own in advance out of frozen beans if you can be fagged - the beans will need peeling after cooking). This will be lovely served with some kind of smoked fish, watercress and melba toast/crackers

Don't do prawn cocktail, do prawns - you can get bags of still frozen shell on prawns from supermarkets or fishmongers, keep wrapped and in a cool bag and they will defrost only very slowly on the journey. Serve with avocado salsa, chilli dip, and marie rose sauce and then people can chose what they want

melon (water, cantaloupe anykind) are lovely in a salad with feta mint and olives

I like witch's suggestions, and am a big fan of watermelon, feta, olive salad.

My thoughts:

Do you know what is being served as main course yet? Might be worth finding out so you don't end up making something too similar or that would clash.

Salad doesn't need to be hearty - a Greek salad or salad nicoise would be lovely, served with good bread.

Any particular reason you don't want to do soup? You could make it at home and take it with you in a cool bag, else freeze and defrost en route/when you get there?

Lovely ideas, thanks! Main course will probably be beef bourgignon (sp?). So was thinking something fishy or veggie for a starter. I could do soup....maybe something a bit unusual like celeriac?

On the melon theme, maybe melon and Serrano ham? I'm not very good at buying melons though, the ones I choose always end up tasting like turnips!

Roquefort salad

Salad leaves on plates
Crumble Roquefort cheese and mix with either creme fraiche or fromage frais
Cut some french stick into thin slices and toast to make croutons, and cut each slice into 3 or 4 to make them a reasonable size
Just before serving, dunk the croutons into the cheese mix until covered and arrange tastefully on the salad leaves. If you do it too long before eating, the croutons will become soggy.

We had it in a restaurant in Provence years ago and asked them how they did it.

I'd probably do melon and parma ham, or maybe just a selection of antipasta.

Actually, bruschetta is gorgeous and easy. By the best ingredients you can afford and it will be much better than a restaurant's. I've done it for guests a few times and it is simple but light and delicious.

In advance:

Toast slices of ciabatta and rub and cut garlic clove on each one lightly.
Peel, deseed and chop very ripe vine tomatoes, and add chopped basil and seasoning and a splash of good olive oil.

Transport separately and Assemble just before serving (spoon mixtre on bread).

Goat's cheese wrapped in filo pastry with cranberry sauce.

Wrap them up to look fancy like this, serve with a few leaves.