April Showers Us With Delights

Along with spring cleaning and spring break comes the dazzling array of spring’s seasonal splendors: tender stalks of asparagus, juicy oranges and fragrant blossoms.

Celebration seems to fill the air as bright blue days and blustery skies pave the way for summer. That is, until an April shower brings back the puddles and we find ourselves dreaming about vacation and the colorful foods that go with those carefree days.

It’s relatively easy to conjure up a change of scenery in your home by adding a few tropical twists to standard recipes. Lime juice livens up a light spinach soup. Blood oranges turn a basic butter sauce tart and pink--perfect with coconut rice. For a shortcut, you can use bottled blood orange juice. For a spring finale, macadamia nuts add a rich island flair to a lemon tart.

Menu

Spinach Soup

Mahi Mahi with Blood Orange Beurre Blanc

Coconut Rice

Steamed asparagus

Lemon Tart with Macadamia Crust

STAPLES

Butter

Cayenne pepper

Salt

Red wine vinegar

Dry white wine

Rice

Flour

Sugar

Eggs

Vanilla extract

1 onion

2 (14 1/2-ounce) cans chicken broth

SHOPPING LIST

1 leek

2 bunches spinach

1 lime

1 pint cream

1 shallot

7 blood oranges

4 (6-ounce) mahi mahi fillets

1 (14-ounce) can coconut milk

1/2 pound macadamia nuts

4 lemons

1 pound asparagus

Game Plan

Day before: Prepare soup, cool and refrigerate. Make tart dough and chill.

Morning of dinner: Roll out tart dough, bake crust and cool then fill and bake tart. Clean asparagus.

30 minutes before: Make butter sauce and keep warm. Prepare rice.

Last minute: Steam asparagus. Broil fish.

SPINACH SOUP

3 tablespoons butter

1 small onion, sliced

1 leek, white part only, sliced

3 1/2 cups chicken broth

12 cups loosely packed spinach leaves (about 2 bunches)

1 tablespoon lime juice (about 1 lime)

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/4 cup whipping cream

Salt

Melt butter in large saucepan. Add onion and leek and cook until tender, about 10 minutes. Add broth to saucepan and bring to simmer. Add spinach in handfuls, stirring to cover all leaves with broth. Return to simmer, then remove from heat.

Using food processor or blender, puree soup in batches. Pass through strainer into saucepan and return to simmer. Stir in lime juice and cayenne. Just before serving, add cream and salt to taste.

Makes 4 servings (about 5 cups).

Each serving contains about:

195 calories; 983 mg sodium; 34 mg cholesterol; 13 grams fat; 12 grams carbohydrates; 10 grams protein; 1.88 grams fiber.

LEMON TART WITH MACADAMIA CRUST

TART SHELL

1 cup flour

1/2 cup macadamia nuts

1 tablespoon sugar

1/2 cup chilled butter, cut into cubes

1 egg yolk

2 to 3 tablespoons ice water

Dried beans or pastry weights

Grind flour and nuts in food processor. Add sugar and butter and pulse until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add egg yolk and gradually add water, pulsing machine on and off until dough begins to clump together. Gather dough into ball, flatten to form disk, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

On floured surface, roll dough into circle 1/8-inch thick. Press inside 9-inch round tart pan with removable bottom. Pierce bottom of shell with fork and chill for 30 minutes. Line shell with wax paper, fill with dried beans and bake at 325 degrees until lightly golden, about 10 to 15 minutes. Remove beans and wax paper and continue baking shell 5 more minutes. Remove from oven and cool.

FILLING

3/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon grated lemon peel

4 eggs

1/2 cup lemon juice (about 4 lemons)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 cup butter, cut into cubes

1/4 cup whipping cream

1/4 cup coarsely chopped macadamia nuts

Whisk together sugar, lemon peel and eggs in saucepan over low heat. Whisk in lemon juice, vanilla extract, butter and cream. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens and coats back of spoon, about 10 minutes.

Pour filling into Tart Shell, top with chopped nuts and bake at 325 degrees until filling is firm and slightly brown on top, about 15 minutes.

Makes 6 to 8 servings.

Each serving contains about:

597 calories; 283 mg sodium; 263 mg cholesterol; 44 grams fat; 46 grams carbohydrates; 8 grams protein; 0.35 gram fiber.

MAHI MAHI WITH BLOOD ORANGE BUTTER SAUCE

If mahi mahi is unavailable, select other fresh fish fillets and follow the same cooking instructions. Similarly, the blood oranges in the beurre blanc can be replaced by other flavoring ingredients, such as fresh ginger juice.

1 cup blood orange juice (about 6 blood oranges)

1 shallot, chopped

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

1/2 cup dry white wine

1/4 cup whipping cream

1/2 cup butter cubed (room temperature)

4 (6-ounce) mahi mahi fillets

Salt, pepper

1 tablespoon oil

1 blood orange, cut in segments

Simmer blood orange juice over low heat until reduced to 1/4 cup, stirring occasionally to prevent scorching. Remove syrup from heat and reserve.

Cook shallot and vinegar over low heat in another small saucepan until almost all vinegar is cooked away. Add wine and reduce again over low heat until only syrup is left. Add cream and heat just until sauce starts to simmer. Immediately remove from heat and whisk in butter, cube by cube. When butter is incorporated, whisk in reserved blood orange syrup. Keep sauce warm in double boiler until ready to use.

Sprinkle fish with salt and pepper and lightly brush with oil. Broil fish until cooked through, about 8 to 10 minutes. Place fish in center of plate, spoon butter sauce over top and garnish with segments of blood orange. Serve with steamed asparagus and Coconut Rice.

Makes 6 servings.

Each serving, without asparagus and rice, contains about:

312 calories; 291 mg sodium; 121 mg cholesterol; 22 grams fat; 8 grams carbohydrates; 18 grams protein; 0.15 gram fiber.

COCONUT RICE

1 3/4 cups water

3/4 cup unsweetened coconut milk

1 1/2 cups rice

Bring water and coconut milk to boil in saucepan. Stir in rice, reduce heat to low, cover and simmer 20 minutes. Remove pan from heat and let stand 5 minutes. Fluff rice with fork and serve.

Makes 4 servings.

Each serving contains about:

355 calories; 10 mg sodium; 0 cholesterol; 11 grams fat; 58 grams carbohydrates; 6 grams protein; 1.39 grams fiber.