Every cook needs a go-to salad recipe to whip up for picnics, backyard barbecues and potlucks.

Three-bean, coleslaw or potato salads are obvious choices. But if you really want to curry favor with health-conscious guests, try curried brown rice chickpea salad instead. Based on staple ingredients highlighted in the Mediterranean Diet Pyramid (www.oldwayspt.org/mediterranean-diet-pyramid), the salad delivers loads of protein and fiber.

Thanks to the growing popularity of hummus, the legume has become the most widely consumed in the world. The buff-colored salad bar staple, also known as garbanzo or ceci, has a mild, slightly nutty flavor and butter texture that make it a perfect backdrop for pungent spices, such as curry.
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The bath, it always seemed, was the only way-station for all those ears of corn. The boiling water bath at the back of the stove awaited its height-of-summer assignment: turning just-picked corn into corn you couldn’t wait to sink your teeth into.

Along came the grill. And, well, might as well put away that tired old pot.

Emboldened, one summer’s eve we did as instructed. Adding chili butter to the corn takes it up a notch.

Janine MacLachlan, who teaches farmstand cooking at her Michigan farmhouse, suggests this surefire blend:

Grilled Corn with Chili Butter

8 ears of corn

CHILI BUTTER:

1 teaspoon chili powder

3⁄4 teaspoon cumin

1⁄4 teaspoon each: ground red pepper, ground coriander, salt and hot pepper sauce.

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter

Combine ingredients for chili butter. Set aside.

Bend back but do not yank off the corn husks. Pull away the silks, then return husks to their hula-skirt position. Soaked in cold water 30 to 60 minutes.

Toss corn on hot grill, rolling as husks turned to golden brown or beyond. Scoop off grill and let cool for just a minute.

Peel back husks, spread chili butter on kernels, and replace husks (you can tie with kitchen string soaked in water to prevent scorching). Grill until slightly charred.

Serve and enjoy.

Hidden in plain sight, right in the middle of the city, are four country acres with a sweet secret.

It is a secret revealed on a Thursday night, when an e-mail goes out to a cult of followers. The next day, cars line up on a hill outside an unmarked gate one block west of Interstate 95 on Hypoluxo road, just west of Lantana.

Word has gone out that the fruit of Hatcher Mango Hill is ripe and ready to eat.

See more photos from Hatcher Mango Hill here.

Yes, this cloak-and-dagger ritual happens exclusively for a mango. But not just any mango. It was on this property that, back in the 1940s, the late John Hatcher, a Lake Worth farmer, first crossed two (Or three? Or four?) kinds of mangoes at his nursery and produced the Hatcher mango — and created a cult favorite.
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Hatcher Mango Hill has ripe mangoes ready.

There’s been a bit of a shortage of local mangoes this year, because of a problem with med flies. But Hatcher’s grove, which has been in business since the 1940s near I-95 at Hypoluxo (1908 Hypoluxo Road, Lantana), hasn’t had any problems.

Marilynn Hatcher reports a bumper crop.

You can’t get Hatcher mangoes in stores, though. You go to their website, hatchermangohill.com and put your name on their waiting list. When your name comes up, they’ll call you and set up a time when you can come pick them up. They also ship.

Hatcher mangoes are the biggest mangoes I’ve ever seen. They’re also sweet and never stringy.

Read more about Hatcher Mango Hill here.
Marilynn offers this recipe for mango ice cream in her book, Hatcher’s Mango Thrills.

RIVER’S EDGE MANGO ICE CREAM

1 Hatcher mango, sliced
2 cups sugar
1 can (10 oz.) sweetened condensed milk
1 can (12 oz.) evaporated milk
4 eggs
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 pint whipping cream
1% milk, as needed

Place mango slices in container of an electric blender; cover and process until smooth. Set aside. Combine sugar, condensed milk, evaporated milk, eggs, cornstarch, and vanilla in a bowl, and mix well. Pour mixture into the freezer can of a 1-gallon ice cream freezer. Add mango puree to freezer can mixture and pour in enough 1% milk to bring mixture to the full line on the freezer can. Freeze according to manufacturer’s instructions.

Finally, the potato famine is over. Vilified for years for their unsavory carbs and empty calories, we, the United Divas of the United Plates of America, decry this basic right to spice our spuds and eat them too.

To enjoy this humble bite sans shame, guilt and guile; to elevate the potato’s sidekick status to savory main course star.

And so we propose the plant-based bliss of responsible decadence. Why not sit down to dinner of gloriously golden turmeric-crusted new potatoes (no need to peel) topped with oh-so-sweet pan-crisped onions.

We love this Indian-inspired dish with a cooling tomato and plain yogurt salad spiked with fresh mint, red chilies and lime.

But you can certainly enjoy as is: smashed, fried and comfortable in its own skin.

Turmeric-Crusted New Potatoes

Serves 4 to 6

1 pound new potatoes, rinsed

Coarse salt, to taste

1 large sweet onion, halved and thinly sliced

6 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided

2 teaspoons turmeric, or more to taste

2 teaspoons ground cumin, or more to taste

2 teaspoons ground coriander, or more to taste

Coarse salt and cracked black pepper, to taste

Boil the potatoes in salted water until tender, about 16 to 20 minutes. Drain and cool on paper towels; potatoes should be thoroughly dry before frying.

While potatoes boil, heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, add 1/2 teaspoon each turmeric, cumin and coriander. Toss in the onions, seasoning with salt and pepper and stirring to combine. Do not overstir so that edges of the onions become crisp and caramelized. Cook for about 10 minutes. Remove the onions from the pan with a slotted spoon; set aside.

Using a jar or your fist, carefully smash each potato so that the edges are slightly broken but potato is still intact (the shape slightly flattened).

In the same skillet, heat 2 more tablespoons of the oil, seasoning again with turmeric, cumin and coriander. When the oil is hot, add the potatoes, careful not to overcrowd. Cook about 5 minutes per side or until golden and crispy. Drain on paper towels, seasoning with an extra pinch of salt. Repeat this process until all potatoes are fried.

To serve, mound potatoes on serving platter and top with onions. Delicious with plain yogurt mixed with diced tomatoes, fresh mint, red chilies and lime juice.

DIVA CONFESSIONS: TURMERIC, ‘THE SPICE OF LIFE’

Herbs and spices impart an entire world of culinary "hip" without upping fat, calories, sodium or the size of your jeans.

Comprised of leaves, seeds, roots, berries and bodacious buds, they infuse ordinary cuisine with extraordinary style, enchanting taste buds, beautifying plates and even boosting brainpower.

One such botanical treasure, turmeric (left), has been aptly coined "the spice of life." Turmeric is both anti-inflammatory and an antioxidant, and also is known to boost a beleaguered liver, lower LDL (bad) cholesterol, inhibit the growth of tumors and repel insects. And though the Divas boast nary a medical degree to be sure, we do believe you are what you eat.

And so, in a pinch, why not be golden, fabulous, spicy and smart?

By MONICA ENG

Health officials and parents everywhere continue to puzzle over how to get kids to eat their fruits and vegetables. But I discovered the answer a few weeks ago.

And it turns out Pennsylvania State University nutrition scientist Barbara J. Rolls made a similar discovery that she revealed in the May issue of the American Journal for Clinical Nutrition.

Rolls and colleagues worked with preschoolers and found that if you feed them generous amounts of vegetables – in this case raw carrots – as their first course, they will eat more of them. Rolls and company are funded by a National Institutes of Health grant aimed at increasing vegetable consumption in children.

Start with hungry kids

I worked without a grant and experimented on my 6- and 11-year-olds. Through them, I found that if you take kids home hungry from hours of swimming (stubbornly passing up every restaurant on the way home), then feed them consecutive fruit and vegetable courses, they will devour them happily, and skip the fattier foods later in the meal.

It requires the parent to act as a short-order cook or at least do some advance work, but it worked beautifully. Here’s how the meal went:

First course: Fragrant, crunchy Gala apple slices. It helps to have one of those apple corers/slicers.

Second: Sweet red pepper strips

Third: Spinach sautéed in olive oil and garlic, then sprinkled with sea salt and lemon juice

Fourth: Two hot bowls of fresh broccoli soup made by dropping steamed broccoli in a blender with chicken stock (or hot water and a bouillon cube in a pinch)

Fifth: Organic baby greens tossed in a light vinaigrette

Did they still have room for their organic burgers? About half a burger each. And no one had room for dessert.

Preload the meal

Without knowing it, I had followed many of Rolls’ tips from previous books, including The Volumetrics Eating Plan, that emphasize "preloading" a meal with foods of "low energy density," especially fruits, vegetables and soups. Rolls found that foods with low energy density actually make you feel fuller than high-energy density. This is mostly due to the high water and fiber content of the low energy density foods.

Eating these foods before the rest of the meal, she says, will leave you full with fewer calories.

And although her Volumetrics books were aimed largely at weight loss in adults, Rolls’ latest research is focused on increasing fresh produce consumption in kids. Although these principles may seem like common sense, Rolls said this is the "first time anybody has shown that increasing the portion size of a low energy dense food, like a vegetable, gives you an increased intake," especially in a specific sequence.

Theoretically the NIH could take the research and make recommendations for public policy that could include the order in which foods are served in schools.

Perhaps the salad or other vegetable could be served before the kids get their nachos, fries and chocolate milk. Instead of trying to make veggies compete with high energy dense foods on the same tray, have them enjoy them first.

It works for dining out

For those parents who don’t want to feel like short-order cooks and servers, you also can make this work at restaurants.

I tried the same preloading principles at a Vietnamese restaurant with four hungry kids.

We asked our server to bring out the cold vegetable salad and sauteed Chinese broccoli before the rice plates, noodle soups and fruit smoothies.

And just as they did at home, the ravenous kids dived into the vegetables because nothing else was on the table.

They also didn’t notice that I’d asked the server to go light on the sugar in the smoothies.

Sometimes, it seems, it’s just a matter of engineering the sequence and contents of the meal behind the scenes.

Just don’t tell the kids.

EASY BROCCOLI SOUP

Cut a large head of fresh broccoli into five pieces. Place into a steamer basket; steam over boiling water until fork tender.

Drop the steamed pieces in a blender that can handle hot liquids; add a cup of chicken broth or hot water and a bouillon cube. Blend for 45 seconds. Add more water and blend again if you prefer a thinner texture. Season to taste.

Pour into bowls and garnish with a squeeze of lemon, fresh pepper or any other favorite condiments. Cauliflower works well as a substitute for broccoli.

TIPS TO GET KIDS TO EAT PRODUCE

1. Allow your child to pick out three fruits and vegetables of his choice at the store.

2. Ask your child to help you prepare the produce for the meal.

3. Give the fruits and vegetables fun names like ‘X-ray eyes carrots,’ according to a Cornell study.

4. Keep cut-up fruit and vegetables around the house in high-traffic areas.

5. Freeze your child’s favorite fruits in season (when they’re cheaper and delicious) for smoothies later.

Creamed vegetable dishes are delicious, comforting classics. But it can be a bit troubling to take nature’s healthiest foods and essentially nestle them in a pool of fat.
Many recipes for creamed corn or spinach call for using a traditional white sauce made from whole milk thickened with a butter and flour roux. Others are primarily reduced heavy cream and sour cream, which don’t have a stellar nutritional profile, either.
Yet creamy lower-fat vegetable dishes can be every bit as tasty and satisfying as their full-fat cousins.
One way to go is to make a low-fat white sauce by heating 3⁄4 cup of skim or low-fat milk until steaming. In a small bowl, whisk together 1 tablespoon of all-purpose flour with 1⁄4 cup of cold milk. Stir the flour mixture into the hot milk and cook, whisking constantly, until thick, two to three minutes.
Once thickened, add 1⁄4 cup of any extra-sharp sharp cheese (use full fat, because with its superior flavor even a little will go a long way) and a bit of Dijon mustard to make a cheesy sauce, or add herbs and spices, such as snipped chives and a pinch of nutmeg, to make a more traditional white sauce. Mix the sauce with cooked vegetables.
You also can thicken a cup of skim or low-fat milk by stirring in 1 1⁄2 tablespoons of cornstarch as it heats, then seasoning in the same way as when thickened with flour.
This recipe for smoky creamed corn with green chilies uses some cornstarch as a thickener, but also gets much of its velvety texture by pureeing two-thirds of the corn in a blender. A mere teaspoon of butter goes a long way in adding a familiar richness to the complex blend of sweet and spicy flavors.
Look for smoked paprika in the spice section of most grocers or in a pinch, just use plain paprika instead.

Smoky Creamed Corn with Green Chilies
Servings: 4

1 teaspoon butter or canola oil
4-ounce can diced green chilies
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
3 cups fresh corn kernels, divided (about 7 cobs)
11/4 cups skim milk
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt

In a medium saucepan over medium, heat the oil. Add the chilies and paprika and cook, stirring, for 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside.
In a blender, place 2 cups of the corn, the milk, cornstarch and salt. Blend until smooth. Transfer the puree to the saucepan with the chilies and add the remaining 1 cup of corn.
Cook over medium-high, stirring constantly, until the mixture simmers and thickens and the corn is tender, 7 to 10 minutes.

Per serving: 163 calories; 19 calories from fat; 2 g fat (0 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 2 mg cholesterol; 34 g carbohydrate; 6 g protein; 1 g fiber; 216 mg sodium

By MICHELLE RADA

In its 18th year running, the International Mango Festival is one of South Florida’s juiciest summer events. This time around the program will focus on the mangos of India. The Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden (10901 Old Cutler Road, Coral Gables) will be hosting the event, offering a large natural environment to spend the weekend.

Just in time for the mango harvest, the festival will hold mango tree sales and auctions for the experienced or amateur mango grower. But it’s not just catered to ambitious plant-lovers. Mango eaters will have just as much to do – from mango tasting to mango-inspired cooking demonstrations. This year’s children’s program will also include a mango theater and puppet show, as well as a mango-chutney cook-off and a brunch on Sunday.

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Vegetables roasted just long enough to enhance their sweetness yet remain crisp-tender are the stars of this show.

Portions are generous, and leftovers the next day taste good cold or at room temperature.

Start with prepped vegetables from the salad bar, and this will take 30 minutes to prepare.

Serve with Parmesan crisps or garlic bread.

Penne with Roasted Vegetables

Servings: 4

Preparation: 30 minutes

1/2 large eggplant (about 8 ounces)

1 medium red bell pepper

1 medium zucchini

1 medium red onion

4 ounces green beans (may substitute asparagus)

4 medium cloves garlic

1 small red Thai chili pepper (optional)

1 head broccoli (about 10 ounces)

Leaves from 1 large sprig thyme

6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

8 ounces dried penne, preferably the smaller-size version

1/2 cup pine nuts (may substitute sliced skin-on almonds), for garnish

1/4 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, for garnish

Preheat the oven to 400°. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat.

Meanwhile, prep the following vegetables, placing them on a large rimmed baking sheet as you work: Trim away the eggplant peel, then cut the flesh into bite-size batons.

Stem and seed the bell pepper, then cut into bite-size pieces or batons. Trim off the ends of the zucchini, then cut the vegetable in half lengthwise; cut the halves into bite-size pieces.

Cut the onion in half, then cut each half into 6 pieces. Trim the green beans, then cut into 2-inch lengths. Crush the garlic, giving it a good whack with the flat side of a knife. Stem and seed the red chili pepper, if using, then cut crosswise into thin slices.

Break the broccoli into bite-size florets and place them in a quart-size resealable plastic food storage bag.

Sprinkle the thyme leaves over the vegetables on the baking sheet. Drizzle with 5 tablespoons of the oil, then season with salt and pepper to taste. Toss to coat evenly, then roast for 10 minutes.

While the vegetables are in the oven, add the pasta to the boiling water and cook according to the package directions. Drain in a colander, then place in a wide, shallow serving bowl.

Drizzle the remaining tablespoon of oil over the broccoli in the plastic bag; season with salt and pepper to taste, then seal and shake to coat evenly. Add the broccoli to the other vegetables and roast for 10 minutes, until lightly browned.

While the broccoli is in the oven, toast the pine nuts in a small, dry skillet over medium heat for a few minutes, until they are fragrant and lightly browned. Do not turn away, as the pine nuts can burn easily.

Transfer the roasted vegetables to the bowl of pasta and toss to incorporate, breaking up the garlic (or removing it, if desired).

Scatter the toasted pine nuts on top, along with the cheese. Serve family-style at the table.

Per serving: 440 calories, 11 g protein, 55 g carbohydrates, 22 g fat, 3 g saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 105 mg sodium, 6 g dietary fiber, 6 g sugar

Adapted from "Cook Italy," by Katie Caldesi (Kyle, June 2010).

Finally – fresh peas for busy people.

The trouble with frozen peas is that, no matter how you cook them, they tend to be mushy.

Fresh peas are another world entirely. They are tender, but still a bit firm. And they have a pleasantly fresh taste lost in frozen and canned varieties.

Of course, they also come in their pods. Which means to eat more than a smattering of them, you need to commit some time to popping them out. While that can be fun, and is a nice project for the kids, it doesn’t always fit with weekday cooking.

So I was pleased to see that a growing number of grocers are carrying shelled fresh peas by the bag in the produce section.

Of course, you do pay for the convenience, but the quality is good and the prep is effortless.

Whether you buy them shelled or in the pod, try fresh peas in this simple bruschetta-like recipe.

Thick slices of sourdough bread are toasted, then topped with a slab of brie and a quick sauté of asparagus, fresh peas and onion.

The asparagus and pea mixture also would be good tossed with cooked pasta.

If you go that route, cut up the brie as best you can and toss that in, too. You may need to add 1⁄4 cup of the pasta cooking water to help create a sauce to coat the pasta.

Asparagus and Pea Toasts with Brie

Servings: 4

2 tablespoons butter

4 large slices rustic sourdough bread (1/2-inch-thick)

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 clove garlic, minced

1 small yellow onion, diced

1 bunch asparagus, bottoms trimmed, cut into 1-inch lengths

1 cup fresh peas

Salt and ground black pepper, to taste

2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint

6 to 8 ounces brie

Heat the oven to broil.

Divide the butter between the bread slices, spreading it evenly over one side of each. Set aside.

In a large skillet over medium, heat the olive oil. Add the garlic, onion, asparagus and peas. Sauté until the asparagus is just barely tender, about 4 minutes.

Remove the pan from the heat. Season with salt and pepper, then stir in the mint. Set aside.

Place the bread slices under the broiler. Toast until just lightly browned and the butter is melted. Remove the bread from the oven and smear a quarter of the brie over each slice. Return to the broiler for another minute.

Top each slice with a quarter of the asparagus and pea mixture.

Per serving: 596 calories; 224 calories from fat; 25 g fat (13 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 65 mg cholesterol; 67 g carbohydrate; 27 g protein; 7 g fiber; 1,063 mg sodium