9 Things to do with Citrus

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  1. Fresh fruit segments

This one’s a no-brainer, really.

Sage Mountain Farm

Sunshine packaged by Nature

Both grapefruits and oranges can lend a bright juicy flavor to any salad.  With citrus in your salad you can avoid or reduce the amount of dressing that you would normally use and save yourself a few calories while you’re at it…bonus!

  1. Fresh juice

Another no-brainer… Hey, I’m just trying to warm you guys up with the easy ones first.  Juicing your citrus, whether it’s lemon, orange or grapefruit is a tasty and easy way to enjoy all the vitamin C that comes with these fruits.

Sage Mountain Farm

Fresh Juice

Did you know that it’s just as important to get your vitamin C along with your iron as it is to get your iron at all?  Vitamin C boosts your body’s ability to absorb all of the iron-y goodness from the leafy greens that you are all eating so much of, right?!

  1. Frozen juice cubes

Say you just can’t drink all the juice right away, no worries, freeze leftovers in ice cube trays!  When we were kids my mom (Hi, Mom!) used to give us ice cubes of freshly squeezed orange juice, a cool and nutritious alternative to artificially flavored popsicles.

  1. Juice + Sugar =
    Tart and Sweet, like me...right?!

    Tart and Sweet, like me…right?!

Lemonade if you have lemons, Orange-Ade if you have oranges, or my favorite…Grapefruit-Ade.  These are great for a crowd!

  1. Fresh zest

Citrus zest is tiny shreds of the outer part of a citrus peel.  It’s the colored part, not the white bitter pith.  The outer part of the peel holds the citrus oil which, in turn, holds the flavor.  There are special tools known as microplanes and/or citrus zesters, but you can always do what I do and use the smallest holes on your box grater.  You know, there are both savory and sweet applications for fresh citrus zest.  You can add citrus zest on top of salads, in quick breads, over chicken or fish, or even in a stir fry.  Anywhere you need a zing of fresh citrus flavor, these tiny shreds can really deliver!

  1. Frozen zest

Did you get over zest-lous?  Did you zest all of the citrus in your CSA box and not have a plan for all of it?  Never fear…you can freeze it.  Now, I have heard but not yet tried, that you can pack an ice cube tray with zest and top each compartment with either water or cooking oil and then freeze.  I suppose that this will give you individual portions which can be added individually to recipes.  Sounds good!  But I am lazy, I’m sure you aren’t, but in case you are having an off day I would try putting all of the zest in a freezer bag and calling it a day.  When you need some just break off a hunk and put the rest back.  It’s not scientific, but I think it would work.  😉

   7.  Zest infused salt

This one, I have tried and boy oh boy is it a hoot!  After zesting the citrus of your choice, mix with kosher salt (ya know, the big flaky salt).  From there it is a veritable smorgasbord of salty choices.  If you want to use the salt for food, like a fancy finishing salt then you can add herbs.  If you want to use as a body scrub then just add olive oil.  There are so many possibilities, you are only limited by your imagination!  Lime zest infused salt for margaritas…you bet!

  1. Zest infused sugar

So this is a sweet take on the above.  Lemon sugar would be perfect to top muffins with or quick breads.  Sugar, with its smaller grains, can be used as a facial scrub as well as a body scrub.

  1. A Natural cleaner

Got a lemon or grapefruit on your counter?  Cut that sucker in half and go to town baby!  Use a lemon or grapefruit half to scour your sink and make it shine.  You’ll be eliminating bacteria at the same time.  Turns out what makes you pucker also kills germs quite effectively!

I hope that these suggestions have sparked your inner citrus lover!  Let’s have a conversation, leave me a comment below or on Twitter and Instagram.  Have a great weekend!

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