Cheese board. Charcuterie board. Nothing but assembly--no advance prep required.

Don't forget the sides. For the cheese board, raw almonds, marcona almonds, fig jam, fruit (grapes or strawberries are nice). For the charcuterie, a variety of olives, some stuffed, some not; a cream cheese or chevre, which can be plain, herbed, or blended with spicy peppers, etc. If you really want to get advanced you could caramelize some onions in advance, and serve them on your board at room temperature as another accompaniment.


Other options would be a chicken liver pate, or a blend of blue cheese, cream cheese, and toasted walnuts. That blend plus caramelized onions makes an awesome canape on crostini.

Do a cheese ball! Lovely retro appetizer. The New York Times cookbook had a nice modern version with goat cheese, pistachios and cumin.

Anonymous wrote:Not sure about "travel well" but I love smoked salmon on thin sliced baguettes with a smear of cream cheese, topped with a sprinkling of chives.

I usually do the smoked salmon with sour cream sprinkled with dill on top of the Cracked Black Pepper Water Crackers. Usually a hit. Now I'm thinking of substituting the sour cream for cream cheese.

bruschetta
white bean dip

Yes to all of the above suggestions.

More:

blanched asparagus spears wrapped in prosciutto

Lebnah keffir cheese topped with olive oil, sea salt and herbs and served with rosemary crostini

Good store-bought salsa mixed with diced shrimp and avocado, served with good tortilla chips

Any type of open face baguette bites:
fresh mozzarella, tomato and basil
goat cheese and fresh fig
hummus and cucumber
smoked salmon and cream cheese
parmesan and roasted red pepper
pesto and prosciutto

The basic charcuterie platter and high-end cheese plate are always hits as well.

I like goat cheese covered with pepper jelly or brie with cranberry compote. Looks festive and you can transport them separately.

You can do tortellini or fruit skewers.

Not sure about "travel well" but I love smoked salmon on thin sliced baguettes with a smear of cream cheese, topped with a sprinkling of chives.

I'm looking for ideas for appetizers that I can make ahead of time, will travel well, and are basically only assembling items together rather than cooking (i.e., a charcuterie platter, cherry peppers stuffed with boursin, etc.). Thanks.