Starter ideas for bring and share Christmas lunch

[xsquared]

We are attending a bring and share lunch with some friends and there will be 16 of us, including 5 small children.

We are in charge of providing starters but I'm not feeling very inspired by the ones on the BBC Good Food page so, I'm turning to wise mners for some pearls.

Ideally it's go to be portable, easy to heat up and vegetarian. Anyone got a good recipe or some ideas please? TIA.

We don't do starters but if I was going to... would suggest a soup, but would check what veg are being served with the main course and choose something different eg butternut squash soup

That said, I think soup is a bit filling so maybe a variety of melon scooped into balls with a minty dressing.

Mushroom pate with melba toast.

Or less formally, vegetarian Canapés

I'm doing mushroom pate, made with wild mushrooms, garlic, cream cheese and sherry, in individual ramekins. Served with fancy crispbreads or home made oatcakes if I have the time to make them or sourdough toast.

And artichoke soup with single cream and chives.

Do you fancy either of those?

Mushroom pate sounds good. I had thought of soup but it's not very portable.

You can carry soup in a flask, large jars or old ice cream container.

What is the main? If its a heavy meal, I'd go for a lighter entree.

What about a warm salad? Pumpkin, pinenut and feta is delicious. I'm not sure if feta is vegetarian, but I'm sure there is a rennet free option. You could just warm the pre-cooked pumpkin in the microwave once there, and arrange in the salad leaves/nut/dressing.

www.recipetineats.com/roast-pumpkin-spinach-and-feta-salad/

Brie and cranberry crackers www.jusrol.co.uk/pastry-recipes/baked-cranberry-brie-filo-crackers

Roast beetroot with whipped goats cheese and toasted hazelnut crumb.

It was in a magazine a few years ago and the beetroot was roasted with oranges/clementines so lovely and sticky against the salty cheese.

How about salad with goat cheese and caramelised onion? Or a mini cheese platter?

Jerusalem artichokes can cause dreadful bloating in some people!

@Hairyfriend, there will be two mains, one for the vegetarians which I'm not sure what will be and the other is a meat barbecue.

Thanks for your suggestions. I may go along with the soup transported in tubs idea as the recipe I have in mind ticks the non dairy, non everything boxes.

Filo baskets? You could transport them in the baking trays just with clingfilm over them.

We had these last year with a few different fillings and they went down well.

Those look pretty @nancybotwinbloom. What filling do you put in them?

Well we are not vegetarian so last year I made:

Beef with horseradish and rocket
Prawn and chorizo
Duck with hoi sin

But you could do...

Asparagus and a fancy cheese with a salad at the bottom

Quorn or tofu in Chinese spice with lettuce and cucumber and hoisin sauce with spring onion on top

Boursin cheese with salad on the bottom?

I'm sure some other people who are vegetarian can offer some better fillers I'm stuck tonight for what to suggest!

We bought ready made filo also as it was just easier.

The nice thing was about these is that they were easy as fuck and looked really nice when I'd added fresh chives or whatever etc.

Looked far fancier than what they were!

I made filo parcels with Brie and cranberry once - served on a bed of rocket and pine nuts. Went down very well.

Another favourite I make are Vietnamese summer rolls. They are vegan and gluten free, although I am neither. It may not be ideal if its really cold though, as they are more refreshing than warming. Delicious with a satay sauce. There are also many videos on youtube about how to roll them and you can really add most things and they still taste great.