Add small-diced mango to your regular guacamole recipe. It’s a tasty new take on a classic.

If you’re concerned that some people won’t like the succulent, sweet accent, just add the mango to the perimeter of the bowl (as a garnish) instead of mixing it in; dippers can scoop it up or not.

Otherwise, mix the mango into the guacamole and see who’s first to guess what the flavorsome new ingredient is.

• Here’s a guacamole recipe from a top French Chef, Laurent Tourondel, of New York City’s BLT Market.
• The mango guacamole recipe would be great in this Guacamole Chicken Salad recipe.

Snazz up your guacamole with mango.
Photo courtesy Wikimedia.

[1] Prickly pears are also called cactus pears: They are the fruits of some varieties of cactus (photo © Mercato).

[2] The fruits growing on the cactus (photo © Frankie Lopez | Unsplash).

[3] A salad of romaine, fennel, cactus pears, apples, berries and almonds. Here’s the recipe (photo © Andy Boy).

[4] You can find prickly pear sorbet in Latino markets and elsewhere. Or you can make your own with this recipe (photo © Safeway).

Now that it’s May 1st, we’ve got four days to focus on Cinco de Mayo culinary tributes. For sure, we’ll bring on the salsa and the cocktails.

But first, here’s a fresh idea that may take some hunting: prickly pear salad dressing. The recipe is below.

Prickly pears are also known as cactus pears and opuntia. They’re the fruit of several species of cactus (most particularly, Opuntia ficus-indica and Opuntia tuna)—photo #2).

Check Latino and International markets for the fruit (or you can purchase them online from Melissa’s Produce and Mercato, for starters).

A popular food in Mexico, the fruits have been used both for food and medicinal cures since prehistoric times.

Prickly pears have a purple-red or green exterior with soft, ruby-red or golden-colored flesh and tiny, edible seeds.

 
 
HOW TO SERVE PRICKLY PEARS

 
Whatever you make, be sure to cut off the outer skin of the fruit before consuming it—you don’t want to ingest any of the small needles.
 
 
RECIPE: PRICKLY PEAR SALAD DRESSING

This vinaigrette becomes pink with the addition of prickly pear purée. Use it on green salads and fruit salads.

Thanks to Ida Rodriguez of Melissa’s Produce for the recipe.

While you’re at it, make refreshing prickly pear sorbet for dessert.

Ingredients For 1 Cup

 
Preparation

1. SHAKE all ingredients in a covered jar.

Since it’s springtime, for either lunch or dinner you can serve a bright, colorful and easy-to-make pasta dish that’s alive with fresh garden flavors, along with a green salad brightened with colors—orange grape tomatoes, blood orange segments and anything that catches your eye at the market.

Here’s a recipe for Pasta Primavera, a food fan favorite.

The recipe is from the Sable & Rosenfeld Elegant Entertaining Cookbook.

Pasta Primavera can be served hot or cold, with a crisp white wine or a light-bodied red.

And don’t forget crusty bread or garlic bread—worth the carbs!

• Find more of our favorite pasta recipes.

Your garden doesn’t have to be elaborate;
a patio with a planter will do. Photo courtesy Sable & Rosenfeld.

Think pink and give Mom rosé Champagne
or other rosé wine.

Here’s a better idea: give Mom rosé instead of roses.

“Rosé,” or blush wine, is made by leaving the skin of red grapes in contact with the juice for a short period of time, before the grapes are pressed. The grape skins are then discarded, rather than left in contact with the juice throughout fermentation (which would create red wine).

The red grape skin imparts some flavor and a lovely color (the longer the skins are left in contact with the juice, the more intense the color of the wine). Different red grapes are used to make rosé, depending on country and region.

Styles of rosé vary widely by country, (Australia, France, Greece, Italy, Portugal, South Africa, U.S. etc.) region and winemaker. There are crisp rosés, medium-sweet roses (think Mateus) and sparkling rosés, the most luxurious of which is rosé Champagne. Without doubt, the latter two are the most festive for Mother’s Day and other celebrations.

For a memorable Mother’s Day, have a tasting of different kinds of rosé wines. Unlike the wilted roses, the wine tasting will remain a happy memory.

Another happy memory: The wonderful wine-based sorbets from Wine Cellar Sorbets (including Rosé), which you can also send to Mom.

Make the ever-popular Caesar salad into an elegant first course or main dish by adding lobster.

1. You’ll need two cooked 2-pound lobsters for 4 luncheon servings or 6 first courses.

2. Slice the tail meat lengthwise to place atop the salad; the claw meat can be tossed with the romaine.

3. You can also add 2 cups of peeled, coarsely grated celery root or parsnip to the tossed romaine.

Here’s the traditional Caesar Salad recipe and the history of caesar salad.

Find more salad recipes.

Can’t afford lobster? Go for chicken or rare-
grilled salmon. Photo © Okea | Dreamstime.