Starters: Great Beginnings from Appetizers to Soups (Chatelaine Food Express)

Here are more than 200 recipes for starters that are sure to impress, but take less than 30 minutes of preparation time. Whether you’re throwing a cocktail party and want fuss-free nibbles with fashionable flair or you want to start a meal with a delicious-but-easy offering, this cookbook is for you.

Starters includes appetizers, hot, cold, and make-ahead, that will create a knockout impression – including Red Pepper Canapes and Shrimp with Chili-Lime Sauce. For fast starts to the weekday or weekend meal, there are lots of soups – hot and cold – such as Celeriac and Pear Soup and Chicken and Shiitake Soup with Coconut Milk.

Here, too, are salads – with meat and seafood or without, for the vegetarians among us. Other chapters include Breads, Dips, Spreads and Salsas, and Drinks.

As in the other bestselling Food Express cookbooks, ingredients are highlighted for easy use, full-colour photography illustrates many of the dishes, and fun illustrations pepper the pages. There’s an icon indicating recipes that can be prepared ahead, and pages full of tips round out each section.