Guest Author - Jill Valente

Seasonal Fruits
I love spring when the temperature warms up and everything is in bloom, including your grocery store’s fruit and vegetable aisle. Strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, rhubarb, currents, figs, papayas and mangos are all in season now so start experimenting! Mangos and papayas are delicious and add great texture to smoothies and I love to use mixed berries for desserts. Just combine strawberries, raspberries and blackberries with a little Grand Marnier and powdered sugar and top with low fat whipping cream or ice cream – yum!

Seasonal Vegetables
Avocado, asparagus, artichokes, shallots, fennel, sugar snap peas, green onions, okra, cucumbers, endive, lettuce, radishes and turnips spring into season these months. Shallots are a great substitution for onions or garlic as they have a milder flavor. I love to use them with roasted potatoes and in frittatas. Asparagus is one of my favorite vegetables and I have featured it in many of my recipes lately such as Chicken Piccata with Steamed Asparagus, Spring Pasta Toss and Asian-Style Asparagus. Avocado is another favorite and is great in my Avocado and Cheddar Sandwich.

Pantry
Canned black beans, diced tomatoes, kidney beans and lima beans all come in handy in the spring as well as a big tub of brown rice. Brown rice is healthier for you than white rice and has a lot more fiber. Try it out in my recipe for Rice and Beans. Also, keeping canned beans in the pantry is perfect for whipping up a batch of Paula’s Springtime Stew.

Freezer
For the most part I am not a huge fan of frozen foods but there are a couple of exceptions. Frozen edamame is great to have on hand as an easy snack or hors d’oeuvre. Just steam it in the microwave and then top with different flavored sea salts. Frozen green peas and corn are also great to keep around as they are used in many of my recipes. Check out their uses in Roasted Chicken Meal and Spring Vegetable Sauté.

Please see the related links listed below to find some of the aforementioned recipes and check out Previous Features for the rest!
Happy Shopping!