8 Ways to Love A Bag of Oranges (or Citrus)

The cheery view of a bowl of fruit on your counter in the winter is also a good way to remind yourself (and your family) to eat more every day! Americans have plenty of room to enjoy more fruit as part of their healthy habits – here are some fresh ideas for enjoying a bag of oranges (and other bagged fresh citrus options) that will color your plate with great!

1. Sweet and Simple – Peel a fresh navel orange and indulge in the fresh, juicy goodness! You can also slice them into wedges and share, a good idea for smaller children. Surprise them with the aromatic, juicy Cara Cara orange, with its spectacular rosy color! There may be a few seeds, so check before sharing!

2. Slice any citrus fruit into rounds, and place on parchment paper on a sheet pan. Freeze, and then bag for use in water or as fun garnish for beverages, desserts, seafood – your call!

3. If you are juicing an orange, or any other citrus, roll it first to max extracting juice from the pulp – the little juice vesicles in the fruit segments. That will ensure you get as much juice as possible. Then, toss the spent halves into a bag in the freezer, to use for zest and a few other ways we will share – keep reading! Check out the kitchen section in stores for great citrus press to make it easy!

4. Segment an orange, mandarin, minneola tangelo, grapefruit or pomelo, and add to any fresh salad. Oranges, mandarins and tangelos pair beautifully with peppery arugula (rocket) greens and vibrant radicchio. Fresh baby spinach is mild and pairs with all citrus. Grapefruit and pomelos like sweet, buttery lettuces, with a sweet dressing, like a light raspberry vinaigrette. Check out your favorite fresh salad kit – add mandarin segments to chipotle cheddar, orange segments to honey pecan, and grapefruit to enhance poppyseed. A squeeze of fresh lemon on a bagged Caesar salad brings some added zing to that savory staple!

5. Sweet salvage – Those leftover peels and halves are good for some, such as dried for potpourri (easy to drop into a small crockpot with a cinnamon stick!), or zested into sugar or salt and used for seasoning. For those who prep early – there is just enough acid in the spent citrus halves/peels to minimize browning in cut apple or potato – just drop one of the frozen halves in the water before you cook/serve them.

6. Citrus serves up flavor, color and energy in spritzers, smoothies and spirits. Cocktail and mocktail drinks with lime, lemon and orange are plentiful, with quite a few on the recipes link at Pricechopper.com. Don’t forget the grapefruit – brighten up your day when you slice them up and garnish grapefruit drinks, sparkling waters, and grown-up only shandies and hard seltzers.

7. Sassy salsas – Chopped orange, grapefruit, or mandarin, with some chopped onion, garlic and herbs (rosemary, parsley, cilantro, basil all work) and zest from the fruit make a super salsa topper for chicken, turkey, pork or seafood.

8. Clean up time – If you are exploring cleaning with white vinegar, consider dropping a few solid peel slices into the vinegar first – they should infuse for about a week. The peel will release its acid and aroma into the vinegar, adding a little cleaning energy and fresh scent to the spray. A 50/50 mix of infused vinegar and water in a spray bottle will arm you with a fresh way to clean up!