How do I love thee, citrus? Let me count the ways!

I had a completely different plan in mind for this week’s blog post than what I ended up writing - like a lot of people, I was going to make something “Super Bowl-ish”.  The thing is, I’m not much of a football fan.  I am crazy about citrus, though.

Earlier this week, I went to a citrus tasting held by our local Slow Food chapter and decided the subject matter was too sweet to pass up.  Besides, many citrus fruits are in their prime right now, and there are so many ways to use them it would be a shame not to try a few.

When we arrived at the tasting, there was a table spread with 10 different citrus fruits, all of which had come from California farms.  The plan was to sniff, taste, and touch the fruit in front of us.

I was expecting to suck on lemons, so to speak, but then the champagne and a pitcher of fresh juice came out.  The mimosas were a lovely surprise that everyone enjoyed.

The citrus fruits we tasted ranged from Meyer lemons and sweet Palestinian limes to mandarin, orange, and grapefruit varieties.  I have to admit that, even though I love citrus fruits, until I tasted them side by side in this way, I hadn’t given much thought to the spectrum of sweet and tart, the intensity of flavor, the play of acid on the tongue, and the sheer bursts of color that come with each of these fruits.

They were gorgeous! And, tasting them gave me all sorts of ideas!

20 Ways to Use Citrus

Next time you buy citrus fruit, think about all of the ways you can use all of it’s parts.  Every piece is edible and chock-full of vitamins.  And, between the oils, juice, peels, and the fruit itself, there are many options.

Here are just 20 for inspiration:

1. Zest the peel – by grating it while the fruit is still whole – and use it a soup or in a dessert OR dry the zest out (You can just leave the zest on a piece of wax paper in a protected area for a couple of days until completely dehydrated) and put it in a recycled glad jar  to use  later.
2. Zest the peel of a lemon and mix it with sugar, salt OR pepper to infuse them with the fruit’s oil – use these in your cooking.
3. Zest the peel of a lime and mix it with chili flakes and chili powder to make a vibrant popcorn topping
4. Rub citrus peels on dry skin – the oils and aromas make for amazing natural moisturizers
5. Make candied grapefruit peels that taste of childhood memories
6. Use chunks of whole lemon to add flavor when making  a roast chicken or turkey
7. Use chunks of whole oranges (with rind) when making pork carnitas
8. Eat whole citrus sections as a snack – mandarins are mellow, cocktail grapefruit bold.  Try different fruit to find the ones you like best.
9. Try bold and ripe  oranges with a piece of dark chocolate for a decadent but healthy treat
10. Make salsa; use any flavor citrus that you like
11. Use fresh mandarin orange pieces in an Asian-style salad or blood oranges in a beet salad or navel oranges in a fruit salad with fresh berries
12. Use citrus fruit meat, pith, and juice in homemade preserves to add natural pectin.
13. Mix fresh-squeezed orange or lemon juice with olive oil to make a light salad dressing
14. Make a citrus glaze for roast pork
15. Blend fresh lemon juice with tahini and drizzle it over fresh veggies
16. Use lime juice to denature raw fish or seafood to make ceviche
17. Squeeze fresh lemon on a piece of cooked salmon or make an orange glaze for white fish
18. Make a margarita with fresh lime juice or mimosa with fresh orange juice
19. Freeze fresh juice in ice cube trays and place cubes in an airtight container to keep them fresh for a burst of flavor in the off-season
20.  or clean your stainless steel sink with lemon juice

Citrus Resources

Citrus Variety Info Chart from Four Winds Growers – look to this chart for when each variety ripens; use this as a guide for when to buy fruit at the peak of flavor

The Citrus Flavor Wheel from Sunkist – describes the sweetness/tartness of different citrus fruits

Citrus Growers and Shippers from California, Florida, Texas, and Louisiana (organic and family-owner farms noted)

 

 

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