140 starter recipes

Elegant snow pea and pear salad on radicchio leaves with toasted walnuts and a light pineapple-yogurt dressing. A fresh, low-calorie starter ready in 20 minutes.

Chilled summer squash soup with fresh herbs: a silky cold soup of zucchini, crookneck, and pattypan squash pureed with basil, parsley, and buttermilk. A summer lunch or starter for six.

Japanese miso soup with shrimp, kamaboko fish cake, and scallions in dashi stock. A quick, warming starter or light lunch ready in 20 minutes.

Chilled fruit soup with spiked melon: champagne-sweetened fruit broth ladled over vodka-and-tequila-marinated melon, grapes, and plums. A grown-up summer starter built for heat waves.

Marak Perot Kar, an Israeli cold fruit soup with cantaloupe, strawberries, grapes, and apples simmered and pureed with lemon and orange juice. A refreshing chilled summer starter.

Vegan Peking-style raviolis stuff egg roll wrappers with roasted eggplant, garlic, soy, ginger, and scallions. Boiled dumpling-ravioli hybrid for an unexpected vegetable starter.

Puff-top shrimp bisque: individual soup cups crowned with golden puff pastry lids, hiding a creamy shrimp and zucchini bisque. Impressive starter for two.

Broiled grapefruit halves with butter, brown sugar, mixed spice and glace cherry garnish. Classic Australian retro breakfast or starter ready in 10 minutes.

These sweet and tasty treats are a great conversation starter which are perfect for the first dinner party you attend.

Stuffed baked mushrooms filled with sausage meat, whole wheat breadcrumbs, fried onions, and fresh sage. A savory side dish or starter that bakes in just 20 minutes.

Orange appetizers layered with thin red onion, parsley, cilantro, lime juice, and olive oil. A fresh, no-cook Moroccan-inspired citrus salad starter.

Greens with orange dressing pairs Belgian endive and watercress with a minimalist balsamic-orange vinaigrette and hazelnut oil. A light, elegant starter salad.

Grilled baby artichokes piled onto meaty sauteed portobello caps and finished with a drizzle of vinaigrette. A simple, smoky, vegetarian starter that lets a few good ingredients shine.

Crispy Chinese-American shrimp toast: golden-fried bread triangles topped with seasoned shrimp paste, fresh ginger, water chestnuts, and toasted sesame seeds. A classic dim sum starter.

Pumpkin and avocado oil soup blends pumpkin, fennel and potato into a silky pureed soup, with buttery avocado oil standing in for butter. A light, velvety vegan starter finished with a drizzle of oil.

Chilled raspberry soup simmered with Burgundy wine and cinnamon sticks, strained smooth, and served cold with a swirl of cream. An elegant summer starter.