Its so easy to incorporate seasonal fruits into cocktail making….just puree them! I have a stick blender that I use religiously, but you could use a food processor or regular blender to liquify those bad boys. Once you have a fruit puree, just add booze! Champagne would be excellent with fresh fruit puree as would vodka, but for our purposes today I went for rum.

I have a mint plant growing in my backyard that is HUGE, so I snipped some mint, muddled it with a little sugar, topped it fruit, rum and soda water, and had myself a delicious seasonal cocktail!

Pineapple Mango Mojito

1/2 t sugar

5-6 mint leaves

1 t pineapple puree

1 t mango puree

3 oz rum

soda water

Muddle the sugar and mint together in a shaker. Add in pineapple puree, mango puree and rum. Shake until well combined. Pour into a glass then top with soda water and enjoy! 

Do you have a great mango recipe you want to share? LINK UP on our May recipe page!

I personally love to use mango in savory ways. Perhaps I’ll grill some, or cook it with chiles and other spicy flavors. I guess we’ll wait and see what the month brings!

I know that winter just won’t leave in certain parts of the country, and for that I am truly, TRULY sorry. I sincerely hope that the snow will leave soon and you can all start enjoying local, seasonal foods. In the meantime, go buy a mango, cook something tropical, link up your recipe, and dream of sunnier days.

The MANGO LINK PARTY is now open!

Check out Share our Strength’s mission statement:

NO CHILD SHOULD GROW UP HUNGRY IN AMERICA. But one in five children struggles with hunger. Share Our Strength’s No Kid Hungry campaign is ending childhood hunger in America by connecting kids in need with nutritious food and teaching families how to cook healthy, affordable meals. You can help surround kids with healthy food where they live, learn and play.

You know we’re passionate about healthy cooking here at Seasonal Potluck, and we’re thrilled to partner with this wonderful charity to help raise awareness about the issue of childhood hunger.

Even just $5 goes a long way. The more you donate, the better chance you have at receiving one of these 5 pairs of books!

On a Stick and Pops!

Encyclopedia of Sandwiches and Breakfast for Dinner

Cooking with Flowers and Tiny Food Party

Pure Vanilla and Marshmallow Madness

Cookie Dough Lover’s Cookbook and The Cookiepedia

How to Get Involved:

1.  Click this link and make a donation.   

2.  Leave a comment in this blog post to let us know that you donated.

3.  Spread the word though facebook, twitter, and other social media

For more news on No Kid Hungry and Seasonal Potluck, follow along on TWITTER, and FACEBOOK 

We’d like to extend a BIG thank you to Quirk Books for their generous donation!  Check out their website for the complete collection of fantastic foodie friendly cookbooks.

UPDATE: Thank you to all who donated! We’re working out the details of the books and they will be in the mail to our top donors shortly. The bake sale was a huge success and we were able to raise a ton of money for this wonderful cause.

I was very excited to be featuring arugula this month, as it’s one of my favorite greens.  It’s a salad green we have at our house most of the time, and I usually grow it in the garden every year too.  It’s peppery taste lends well to both savory and sweet pairings.  It’s great on sandwiches, with salads that have some sweet accents and tossed with pasta or sprinkled on pizza.  You’ll find recipes using it in all of these ways on our arugula page!  Below is an easy salad that only takes a few steps.  The sweetness of the beets and goat cheese pair really well with the bite of the arugula.

In keeping with the seasonal theme, I also bought some local arugula from right here in Chicago!  It’s actually grown indoors, so it’s available all year round.  You can find out more about it here.

Farmed Here local baby arugula. Grown in Chicago!

I found that this arugula kept A LOT longer than other brands I have purchased (which makes sense, because it didn’t travel as far to get to my plate!).  It tasted great too.  I will definitely be buying this product again!

Arugula Salad with Roasted Beets, Goat Cheese and Balsamic  Reduction, serves 2

• 1 small bunch beets
• 3 cups arugula
• 2 oz goat cheese, crumbled
• 3 Tbsp olive oil
• Kosher salt
• Pepper
• balsamic reduction*

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Line a sheet pan with foil.  Wash and trim beets, then toss with 2 T of olive oil.  Put on sheet pan, cover with foil and cook in the oven for 25-50 minutes.  The cooking time will vary, depending on the size of your beets.  Beets are done with easily pierced with a fork.  Let cool.

When beets are cool enough to handle, peel off skin and cut into pieces.  Toss with the remaining 1 T of olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Divide arugula between two plates.  Top with beets, crumbled goat cheese and drizzle with balsamic reduction*.

*Note:  you can use a store-bought balsamic reduction or make your own by bringing one cup of balsamic vinegar to a boil, then reduce heat so vinegar is simmering.  Let simmer until the vinegar is reduced by at least half and thickened (like the consistency of syrup).  It is great drizzled on everything from salads to meats, even fresh strawberries!

Spring is here and I thought arugula would be the perfect base for this fresh spring salad. Topped with with some protein packed roasted chickpeas, and salty feta, this salad makes a great lunch.

Arugula Salad with Roasted Chickpeas recipe adapted from Bon Appetit 

• 1 12oz can chickpeas, roasted with olive oil, salt and pepper 
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon (or more) fresh lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
• 5 ounces arugula (about 7 cups)
• 1/4 cup fresh mint leaves
• 1/4 cup thinly sliced red onion
• 3 ounces feta cheese, crumbled

Whisk olive oil, 1 Tbsp. lemon juice, and vinegar in a small bowl. Season vinaigrette with salt, pepper, and more lemon juice, if desired.
Combine chickpeas, arugula, fresh mint, and onion in a large bowl. Drizzle vinaigrette over and season with salt and pepper; gently toss to coat. Divide salad among plates or bowls. Garnish with feta.

Here’s a little tip for you. I eat salads A LOT. If your salad routine starts to get a little boring, add some fresh mint. It seems like it might be strange, but it can really give a boring salad some major personality.

Be sure to head over to our Arugula link party under the APRIL tab to share your favorite arugula recipes! If you’ve never tried arugula before, check out what others are making and gather some inspiration. We’d love to have you!

Spring!  I know it technically started last month, but it hasn’t really felt like it was here until this past weekend.  But now that it’s here, it’s time to start thinking about what to put in your gardens this year.  Enter arugula.  This bright, peppery green is the perfect addition to your garden.  And your salads, pasta, pizza, sandwiches, and pesto.  Arugula is such a versatile green, and it’s unique flavor can spice up any recipe by giving it a bite.  Arugula is a staple in my home garden.  It grows pretty quickly, so you can keep planting it all summer to enjoy.  You’ll want to harvest the leaves before they flower, so they don’t become too bitter.

April is our SP anniversary, and we are thrilled that it is still going!  We’ve both been able to experiment with ingredients that we may not have put first on our list, and found things we didn’t even know we liked.  We look forward to featuring more seasonal produce and discovering more ways to use it.

We have a great collection of arugula recipes on our April potluck page.  Come on by for some inspiration and to link up some of your own!

While perusing the recipes on my own site, I was shocked that I didn’t really have any that featured broccoli as the main ingredient!  So I’ve found several that I am going to make and link up here before the month’s end.  I’m getting a late start though, as we’re already more than halfway through March – where did this month go?!

This is an easy, delicious way to eat your broccoli.  The oven roasting gives it a light crunch, and the lemon adds a little touch of spring flavor to this dish.  It’s a subtle lemon flavor, but if you wanted to kick it up a notch, I think it would taste great with some diced up preserved lemon rinds.  It pairs well with any main course, and can be made in under a half an hour.  Gotta love those recipes for weeknight cooking!

Roasted Broccoli with Lemon and Pine Nuts,  adapted from Food & Wine

1 large head of broccoli (1 1/2 pounds), cut into 1 1/2-inch florets, stems peeled and sliced 1/4 inch thick

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

1 1/2 tablespoons pine nuts

2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

Preheat the oven to 400°. On a large baking sheet, toss the broccoli florets and stems with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast the broccoli in the oven for about 20 minutes, tossing halfway through, until browned and tender.

Meanwhile, in a small skillet, toast the pine nuts over moderate heat until light golden all over, about 4 minutes.

In a small bowl, whisk the lemon juice with the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil; season the dressing with salt and pepper. Scrape the broccoli into a serving bowl. Add the dressing and toasted pine nuts, toss well and serve.

Broccoli and White Bean Salad recipe adapted from Sunset Magazine 

• 2 heads broccoli (about 1 1/4 lbs. total), broken into medium florets 
• 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
• 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 
• 2 teaspoons orange zest 
• 1 tablespoon orange juice 
• 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1/4 cup roughly chopped flat-leaf parsley
• 1 can (15.5 oz.) cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

Grapefruit Meringue Pies, makes 6 mini pies

Crust, adapted from Chocolate Covered Katie

• 3/4 cups crumbs of graham cracker crumbs, or 5 graham cracker sheets
• 2 tbsp milk or margarine/butter

In a food processor, process crackers into fine crumbles. Add milk and process again to combine. Pour now-sticky crumbs into mini pie pans or 1/2 pint Mason jars, and smush down very firmly with your hands or a sheet of wax paper. (Be sure to smush down VERY hard, as the lack of fat will make this crust crumbly if you don’t.)

Grapefruit Curd, adapted from Baking Bites

1 cup sugar
3 1/2 tbsp cornstarch
3 tbsp ap flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/3 cups water
1/2 cup fresh grapefruit juice
1 tbsp grapefruit zest
3 large egg yolks (reserve whites for meringue)
2 tbsp butter, room temperature

In a medium saucepan, whisk together sugar, cornstarch, flour, salt and water. Bring to a boil and cook, stirring with a whisk, for 3 minutes, until quite thick. In a small bowl, combine egg yolks with grapefruit juice and zest.
Gradually temper eggs with about 1/2 cup of sugar mixture, drizzling in the hot mixture very slowly. Return saucepan to the heat and, whisking continuously, stream in lemon mixture. Add in butter and cook over medium-high heat for another 3 minutes.
Allow to cool to room temperature.  Divide evenly between Mason jars or mini pie pans.

Meringue
1/2 cup sugar
2 tbsp water
4 large egg whites, room temperature
1/2 tsp cream of tartar

One filling is cooled, preheat oven to 350F. (Note: browning the meringue can be done with a kitchen torch, instead of putting the pies in the oven)
In a small saucepan, combine sugar and water. Bring to a boil and turn heat to low.
In a large bowl, beat egg whites until frothy. Beat in cream of tartar and beat at high speed until egg whites reach soft peaks. Carefully and very slowly, with the mixer turned to medium, stream in sugar syrup and beat egg whites to stiff peaks.
Spoon meringue onto pie filling and make sure to completely seal the edges or the meringue with the crust, leaving no filling exposed.
Bake for 8-10 minutes, until meringue is lightly browned.