Looking to mix up your mealtime? Check out the newly opened Manhattan Grill, offering fresh and surprisingly affordable options for food lovers in Fort Lauderdale.

Tucked away at 6941 Sunset Strip in Sunrise, this new hotspot specializes in a select, simple menu of healthy, fresh and inexpensive meals with a Latin Caribbean twist. And for West Indian foodies, the flavors at Manhattan Grill are both familiar and new enough to keep you wanting more. Regular white rice is jazzed up with cilantro, while refreshing mango tops things off in the restaurant's signature mango salsa.

"Since I discovered the Manhattan Grill I have been ordering from them almost every day," confessed one addicted fan. "Their meals are different, they are delicious and healthy, nothing is fried and their prices are unbelievable."

Manhattan Grill also makes all their dishes fresh to order for their customers. Providing healthier options for their customers "is the principle on which the Manhattan Grill was founded" said general manager Dawn Morgan.

This Easter the Caribbean will celebrate the holidays through food, in a cycle of fasting, feasting and festivities. To celebrate, the National Weekly looks at how generations in the Caribbean celebrate Holy Week with food.

Fish and fasting

During Lent, many abstain from eating meat, opting for fish or vegetables, especially on Good Friday when many "fast" all day.

Fish became central to Easter dishes during this fasting period because, according to Christian tradition, fish was not considered a meat. In Jamaica, fried, escovitch or steamed fish is popular on Good Friday. Meanwhile in Bermuda, codfish cakes and boiled green bananas are common on Good Friday.

'Tis the season for those Caribbean holiday treats, with high, hungry expectations for Christmas fruit-cake, gallons of sorrel and one hefty smoked ham. But wandering from the beaten path can also make some tasty holiday eats. Substitute your usual fare with these recipes, either a unique twist on a classic or an old dish that deserves more spotlight, and you might find a new favorite for next year's yuletide.

June Plum Ginger Ham

Speckled with pineapple and cherry, the Christmas ham is the preferred centerpiece for the holiday dinner table across the Caribbean. This June plum and ginger glaze, however, adds just a touch more Caribbean joy.

June Plum Ginger Glaze:

Competitors are sharpening their knives and perfecting their jerk recipes for the 10th annual Grace Jamaican Jerk Festival's Publix Jerk Cook-off and Celebrity Quick Fire Competition. Local jerk masters will show off their jerk flavor potential in these fiery competitions at the event slated for Sunday, November 13 at Markham Park in Sunrise.

While jerk cooking has come a long way from its days of wild hogs roasting in coal pits, these culinary stars will dial back the clock for authenticity and add their modern flavor to compete for a cash prize and the coveted golden Dutch Pot trophy.

"This year's competition will be even more exciting with the new rules and a new area, outfitted with tiki huts and jerk pits, where contestants will be cooking in front of the judges and the audience," says June Minto, coordinator of the Jerk Cook-off.

These competitions have been the centerpiece of the festival's annual jerk celebrations. Jerk battles from past festivals have been filled with smoking hot rivalry, and this year's lineup promises to be just as intense.

Two former challengers will return to compete for the title in the Publix Jerk Cook-off. Last year's winner, Chef Robert Wong of Miami's Half Way Tree Restaurant, will again face last year's runner up Chef Michelle Jones. Chef Rolin Gordon of Tropic Gourmet will also enter the fray.