Easy starter ideas for family of four

[SpaceOp]

So clearly Christmas plans are now toast! I had done a big shop on Saturday and am fairly well supplied and have main course for Christmas sorted as we were bringing the beef as our contribution and that's now stashed in the freezer (albeit it too much for the four of us). I also stocked up on baking ingredients on the basis that I thought the kids and I would probably do lots of baking while we were stuck indoors between christmas and new year so I'm good to make a lovely cake for dessert. But I need a starter. We don't usually do starters for the four of us but it feels appropriate for Christmas.

DD is a bit fussy and DH is allergic to shellfish. And I need something I can make with standard ingredients or via a quick trip to our Tesco Local. I had thought of baked camembert - DD probably wouldn't have eaten it but she could have had a babybel and some of the bread - but I really don't want to be faffing about cooking a camembert at the same time as I'm trying to finish off the main meal.

Any ideas? Also about to trawl through the BBC Good Food website - always good for ideas I find!

Melon! Or olives and picky bits. Or easy soup. Anything else too much faff imo.

Sometimes I just get a few tins of tomato soup and make it Christmassy by adding some star shaped pasta www.sainsburys.co.uk/shop/gb/groceries/sainsburys-stars-500g or homemade star-shaped croutons www.annabelkarmel.com/recipes/pumpkin-sweet-potato-soup-with-cheesy-croutons/

Otherwise, cheese and tomato puff tarts www.deliciousmagazine.co.uk/recipes/cherry-tomato-and-herb-puff-tarts/ or a slightly bigger version of these thehappyfoodie.co.uk/recipes/cheese-and-tomato-tartlets

We don't bother with starters but if I did, it would be a share platter that didn't take much work. So maybe olives, hummus, nice bread sticks, charcuterie, but about an hour before.

I get some party food to cook and have them about an hour or so before. Having a starter adds to my general timing confusion whilst everything’s in its final throes

Like pp
We don't bother with a full starter
But a good couple of hours before. I pop some nice olives, nice oil and balsamic and bread out. Just to graze on.

If I'm hosting a dinner party though my easy go to are Nigella prawns with chilli and wine. Which I know is out DH but it is so easy you could have it

Or Delia's slow roasted tomatoes.

Really basic and not faffy but tasty and relaxed.

I've actually spent 15 minutes working out timings and have come to the conclusion that actually, a baked Camembert is doable. If I shove it in my second oven with the roast potatoes, then remove the meat a few minutes before removing the cheese. The meat can then rest and the main oven can heat up for the yorkshires while we eat our starter then I can make gravy and remove potatoes etc while the yorkshires are cooking.