Man, I can make a meal of just munchies. All those little plates of goodness… oh yeah, in Spain they call them Tapas and they DO make a meal of them. It actually originated with the Moors when they occupied, er, ah… vacationed in Spain (711 CE to 1150 CE). At the time Moroccan culinary tradition for entertaining dignitaries called for meals of many dishes that were passed around and everybody had a nibble.
Nearly all cultures have some form of little dish before the main meal (not counting a soup) and these have become today’s Hors d’oeuvre or Appetizer.
Since it somewhat rare for the modern American household to routinely have appetizer, soup, and salad before the main dish I’ve put all of those recipes into one (this) section.