Star-spangled salads for a patriotic potluck

Whether you're getting together with neighbors for a grand Fourth of July picnic or meeting up with family for a backyard barbecue, showing up empty-handed will make you feel guilty all day.

You know Aunt Marge will bring her tried-and-true potato salad and that Nancy's bow-tie pasta salad will be on the table, so you want to make something different. But not something so different that no one will touch it, and nothing so fussy that it will take you a day to make.

I've combed through magazines, books and websites to come up with six side dishes that will elicit more oohs and aahs than the fireworks display.

Because people lean toward the familiar items on the table, I've come up with a collection of all-American favorites that have a bit of a twist.

Coleslaw gets a makeover with jicima (a juicy Mexican turnip-like root) and a fresh cilantro sauce; iconic potato salad trades celery, hard-boiled eggs and mayonnaise for bacon, chives and a low-fat cheesy dressing.

Corn comes off the cob in an easy salad with tomatoes, fresh basil and mustard-spiked vinaigrette while baked beans get sidelined for a spicy black bean salad full of sweet peppers and avocado.

Orzo stars in a light, lemony pasta salad free of bland dressing and chunks of raw veggies. (If there's a grilled chicken breast left at the end of the evening, shred it into the remains of the orzo salad and you've got Monday's lunch.)

My grandmother's creamy kidney bean salad was always the hit of the family picnic, but I'm switching things up this year with a three-bean salad that has kidney beans sharing the bowl with Great Northerns and chickpeas in a low-fat, herbal dressing.

Another nice thing about these recipes is that they can easily enough be scaled to feed eight or 12 or more. Hold on to these recipes; they'll become your potluck go-tos through the summer, if not for years to come.