Spring up your menu.

Spring is upon us, so this is a good opportunity for restaurant operators to revamp their menu without necessarily affecting their concept.

Some of the spring fruit and vegetables are:

Asparagus: used particularly in Northern Italian, German, Chinese and Japanese cuisines. You can also use it as a substitute for broccoli such as in stir frys. My suggestion would be a side dish of Tempura battered Asparagus served with a shrimp dinner.

Bell Pepper: used in all Mediterranean cuisine and Chinese as well. My favorite is the stuffed bell peppers Tunisian style. Either you can stuff them with ground beef, onion, garlic, parsley, oregano, black pepper, eggs and EVOO and into the oven or, in a cold version with a tuna salad mixture.

Lemongrass: essentially used in Thai and Vietnamese cuisines. With some cilantro, lemongrass can be used in preparing chicken and beef satay peanut marinades.

Apricot: Because it has quite a fragrant aroma and such a naturally sweet taste, I see multiple applications for this Mediterranean fruit. My favorite iced tea recipe calls for the flesh of an apricot in water. Raise the temperature and let it sweat for half an hour. Then use that water to brew your favorite tea leaves or bags for one minute only at a maximum of 150 degrees. Finally, put your brew with the tea bags in your freezer for half an hour. When perfectly cold, add some rose water and voila.

Cantaloupe: Beside the multiple dessert applications, I suggest to use melons instead of tomatoes in a salsa (Mexican cuisine), but add some rice vinegar to balance excessive sweetness. Or use it as substitute for mango in the classic Indian Mango Lassi drink.

Spring also sees the growth of herbs like oregano, sage, basil and rosemary. You can incorporate them into your salads. For instance take a classic caesar salad, add some freshly chopped basil with the romaine, substitute toasted chopped almonds for the croutons. So here you have a revamped side dish without efforts. Then make it an entree with grilled oregano chicken or grilled dill salmon served with a small cup of a light soup or a consomme.



For more information, here are links to some sources:


http://www.epicurious.com/articlesguides/healthy/nutritiousdishes/springvegetables

http://www.naturalhub.com/vegetable_gardening_in_spring.htm

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/spring-vegetables/

http://www.recipetips.com/recipe-cards/t--3898/spring-vegetable-medley.asp

http://www.honeybell.com/retail/category/spring_fruits_2.aspx

http://www.uabhealth.org/16174/











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