I’m not adventurous…but I’d start with some charcuterie boards – cheese, crackers, grapes, meats etc. Easy to prepare in advance and can be done within a reasonable budget.
An assortment of finger sandwiches, like you would have at high tea, always look pretty but are easy. Things like cucumber, cream cheese and dill; roast beef with horseradish; egg, mayo and cress.
Flatbread with goat cheese, caramelized onions and fig jam cut into individual servings (I find that combination works well cold).
You can try bruschetta. 1. chop tomatoes, mix with garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper. Before serving, add chopped basil and shaved parmesan. 2. Slice some good crusty bread. Brush with olive oil, salt and pepper, and sprinkle some Italian herb seasoning or similar. Place under broiler until just browned on the edges. You can serve the toast alongside the tomatoes, and people can serve themselves. Or you can spoon the tomatoes on the bread yourself and arrange the topped slices on a platter for people to pick up.
I’d create two charcuterie-like trays. For example, I’d have one with meats (salami, sopressata, ham, prosciutto, etc.) cornichons, olives, and crackers. Then another with an assortment of cheeses (soft and hard), jam, crackers, nuts, and fruit. I’d also have a hummus dip with veggies or baba ganoush with pita bread or both.
Also, I’ve found that people seem to love deviled eggs. You could make plates of deviled eggs instead of the hummus or baba ganoush. Also, if you’re going to make the deviled eggs, use a piping bag for the filling. They’ll look amazing. Good luck!
Tortilla roll up pinwheels. You make a spread, put it on tortillas, then roll up each tortilla. Chill a bit and cut each into pieces about 1 inch wide, and serve on the pieces’ sides so they look like pinwheels. There are many options for spreads but 2 we use are prepared salsa mixed with cream cheese. Also dill and cream cheese mix and tortilla wrapped around a peeled 1/2 (cut lengthwise) English cucumber. You can also use things like sliced deli-meat and flavored Boursin or cream cheese and can also use flavored/colored tortillas. If you use the larger size tortillas you can make a bunch of apps fairly quickly and they transport well.
Deviled eggs are always very popular with my family, but I’m always a little wary when I see them in a large group/potluck setting. It just seems like the prep is so, you know, hands-on. I know a lot of other popular appetizers are as well, but somehow with eggs it concerns me more.
I serve the skewers on a round platter with the satay in a bowl in the center of the platter. A straight short skewer works. You have to slice the chicken breast into thin, bite-size pieces after grilling. You can make the satay days in advance and grill and slice the chicken the day before, leaving only the skewering for day of.
No recipe for this as I just made it up. Cook cheese tortellini, then toss in pesto with grated Parmesan when finished cooking. Skewer one piece of tortellini, and then small pieces of mozzarella and sun-dried tomato. I like the green skewers with knots on end for these.
If watermelon is in season, a cube of watermelon topped by smaller square of feta and a sprig of mint, with a toothpick through the top to hold it together.
Gazpacho in small plastic cups.
Classic 40 year old recipe from Martha Stewart’s original Entertaining cookbook, but I cannot find the recipe online. Title is Shrimp Vinaigrette Wrapped in Snow Peas. It tastes amazing, but wrapping the snow pea around the marinated shrimp is a task!