Light Starter for tonight

ali85

I am cooking a romantic meal for me and my boyfriend tonight and we are having steak and roasted vegetables for mains, I'm stuck for a starter that would be light and would go well with the meal.

Wondering if anyone could recommend anything that would be quick, yet tasty (and look impressive) that I could prepare????

Thanks in advance!!! :):)

Itsdacraic

If you could get hold of some good quality blackpudding, you could try black pudding and goats cheese starter?

Just a grilled slice of blackpudding topped with goats cheese and then grilled again. Only takes about 10 minutes in total, but may not be everyones cup of tea.

the beer revolu

Or
roast beetroot slices topped with some goats cheese, drizzled with olive oil and balsamic and grilled.

Easy and tasty

neuro-praxis

Another goats cheese suggestion:

Salad with rocket and spinach, tossed in a dressing made from raspberry jam and good quality balsamic vinegar, topped with cubes of creamy goats cheese and fried bacon lardons. The whole thing can be prepped in advance in just 10 minutes, and thrown together at the last moment. Delicious.

Malari

Again, this may not be to your taste, but this is a recent one I did with modest success

Rocket and spinach salad, topped with spooned out scoops of avocado and tinned crab. Drizzle with a mix of sesame oil and soy sauce. Nice and light.

Itsdacraic

neuro-praxis wrote: »

Another goats cheese suggestion:

Salad with rocket and spinach, tossed in a dressing made from raspberry jam and good quality balsamic vinegar, topped with cubes of creamy goats cheese and fried bacon lardons. The whole thing can be prepped in advance in just 10 minutes, and thrown together at the last moment. Delicious.

That sounds very nice.

ali85

thanks a million folks!

Those ideas sound great!

The black pudding idea sounds lovely, he's not into black pudding though, but I'll definitely be trying that with my friends!

Minder

Am I too late?

Pile of salad leaves - lambs lettuce is in season. Cut some parsnips into quarters and remove the core - then season and roast these. While the oven is on add a handful of hazelnuts to a baking tray and give them 6 or 7 minutes. Rub the hazelnuts in a clean tea towel to remove the skins and give then a bash with a rolling pin - they don't want to be crumbs. Buy those cooked beetroots from the veg section (the unpickled type), dice and add half to some sour cream flavoured with horseradish. Dress the salad leaves with a little olive oil and some lemon juice.

Put the leaves on a plate, arrange the roast parsnips around the leaves and add the two different diced beetroot around the edge of the plate. Sprinkle the salad with the rough hazelnuts. Serve.

Neyite

very quick and easy.. moules provencale
you can prepare these earlier on in the day and then just pop them in for a few mins;

Mussels; about 15 or so
white breadcrumbs (usually sold in a bag beside the chickens in supermarkets)
garlic cloves

steam the mussels according to packet/fishmonger
drain & cool, discard any that didnt open
take empty half of shell off, loosen mussel from shell and snip off the 'beard' (the grassy bit thats attached)
finely chop a clove of garlic, add knob of butter in a bowl and melt on low heat in microwave. add breadcrumbs - enough that when you mould them, it sticks together.
pack this mix over the each mussel in the shell, so its covered in a breadcrumb mix, chill until you are ready.
when you are ready to serve up, pop these under a low grill for about 10 mins, until breadcrumbs are golden.
serve about 6 each with a bit of salad garnish.

jos28

neuro-praxis wrote: »

tossed in a dressing made from raspberry jam

I'm intrigued, sounds delicious

neuro-praxis

jos28 wrote: »

I'm intrigued, sounds delicious

Ah it's a lazy man's raspberry and balsamic vinaigrette.

There are a few ways to do it.

Get a nice raspberry or cranberry jam and melt a few tablespoons in a small saucepan with a dash of water. Add a few tablespoons of good quality dark balsamic vinegar and whisk.

Alternatively, whisk it together in a cup and heat in the microwave, then whisk again.

Or if you like it cold, and your jam is nice and loose, put the ingredients in a jar and shake well.

jos28

Thanks Neuro, definitely making that tomorrow !