Spring Fruits and Vegetables

Goodbye snow, goodbye ice, goodbye heavy winter clothes and hell-ooo beautiful weather! I think it is safe to say that we are all pretty excited for the spring season. Spring resembles life: flowers bloom, animals mate, and beautiful color fills our atmosphere. Another wonderful aspect of the spring season is the variety of food.

For those of you who can use a bit of a spring cleaner-upper, why not start cleaning up bad eating habits? Let’s face it: the majority of us probably failed at keeping our New Year's resolutions of being “fit and healthy.” So why not take advantage of this new opportunity to make things right? Speaking of fit and healthy, keep in mind that summer will soon be around the corner and substituting unhealthy sweets with spring filled fruits is an easy fix. Strawberries are first on the list. Strawberries are available all year round in some areas but they suffer less damage in transit and are more likely to be fresher in quality during the springtime. These wonderful berries are very nutritional as they provide 3.5 grams of fiber and attribute to your vitamin C dosage.

All of the following fruits do wonders to the body so them all together and have yourself a dream fruit salad:

• Apricots
• Avocados
• Blueberries
• Grapefruit
• Kiwi
• Pineapple

The hard part about eating healthier is that vegetables are not the first foods to be considered due to the daily diet of most Americans consisting of meats and fried foods. Asparagus is a good spring vegetable due to its great nutritional value as they are low in fat, high in fiber, and provide a good source of vitamin B and C as well as iron. Fresh peas are also a great spring vegetable because they too are low in fat, high in fiber, and provide a great source of plant protein.

The following vegetables are also great in the spring:

• Artichoke
• Arugula
• Broccoli
• Cabbage
• Carrots

There are a number of fruits and vegetables that we should really take advantage of this spring season and it can also be a great adventure picking them yourself at a farm. Choose your food wisely as a lot of the best tasting foods contain the least amounts of grease and oil.

March Madness Catering

March is finally here, so get your brackets ready! A sure sign of Spring for all basketball fans is the start of March Madness. The NCAA March Madness Tournament kicks off March 15th, and that’s enough of a reason to celebrate. Get the gang together for an epic March Madness party and you can place your bets on La Bottega of Farmingdale to provide you the perfect catering everyone will enjoy. All you have to do is pick up the phone, give us a call, and let the madness ensue!

The last thing you want to do at your own party is spend time in the kitchen preparing food, cleaning, cooking, and missing out on the game. We have catering packages that will suit the tastes of all your guests. When choosing food for an event, guests usually expect to be munching down on delicious foods they can eat with their hands that doesn’t make too much of a mess. We offer spiedini, which are like delicious mini-meals on a skewer. Basketball fans can enjoy chicken, steak, or ship spiedini skewers even when they are standing cheering on their team.

You can’t go wrong with our famous paninis as they are known to be party pleasers. We let you choose from 6 varieties of many panini options so that all your guests will be sure to fill up on something they’ll love. The paninis are cut in fours so guests will be able to try a little of everything. Our panini options include vegetarian, steak, chicken, cured meats, roasted turkey, pork, or shrimp, all prepared fresh and served hot!

At La Bottega of Farmingdale, we can work with you to help coordinate your March Madness party and make recommendations to ensure your party is a hit. You can check out our full catering menu to help you decide what works best for your event. Whoever you root for, win or lose, we are sure your guests will go home happy when you choose La Bottega of Farmingdale for your March Madness party.

Seasonal Fruits and Vegetables

No, don’t buy strawberries yet—it’s not strawberry season! My mom says this to me during the winter months, though I can’t help it . . . strawberries are my favorite fruit! What does she mean by “it’s not strawberry season”, anyway? It’s a fruit, they’re grown all year round! You would be surprised, however, at how significant of a role timing can play into the taste of your fruits and vegetables based on the season and your geographical location.

You may still be able to find your favorite fruit or vegetable even when it is not the proper season, although it may not be the flavor and taste in which we crave from them. When food is not in season in your local area, you may still find them in a local supermarket as they are often grown in a hothouse or shipped from different parts of the world. The downside is that the taste is not always as sweet or as ripe as you would like due to the long travel in their export or the artificial flavoring that is sometimes added in a hothouse as the crops are not able to grow in their natural setting outdoors.

Another thing to keep in mind when shopping for fruits and vegetables (and you may want to thank me later) is the cost and expenses that will affect your wallet. When it is not the typical season for, let’s use for example a watermelon, the prices shoot up as the availability for fruits such as these goes down.  

As peak season is important when shopping for fruits (as it affects both your money and your meals), you can always check and inquire at your local farmer’s market to uncover seasonal produce guides. It is important to keep an idea of what crops are in peak time and what are not, and both your wallet and taste buds will appreciate the extra effort!