Celebrate Citrus

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[Jump right to the recipe:
Goat Cheese Crostini with Greens and Blood Oranges]

Citrus is a bright spot in the cold of winter, giving us a sneak peak of the fresh fruits and vegetables waiting for us in spring and summer. And while oranges and grapefruits probably come immediately to mind when you think of citrus, there are many interesting and fun varieties to choose from, including Satsuma mandarins, tangelos, and yuzu. Citrus is also a source of important nutrients, including the ever-critical Vitamin C. With so much going for it, there’s really no good reason not to add more citrus to your diet.

Celebrating Citrus with Central Market

As I started to see more citrus show up in my market’s aisles this past holiday season, I really had citrus on my mind. I absolutely love Satsumas and I buy them by the box in December for healthy snacking during the fat- and sugar-laden holiday season. Needless to say, I was very excited when the wonderful folks from Central Market invited me to attend a special olive oil tasting and kickoff to their annual Citrus Fest. The event was amazing and I learned a lot about olive oil, so much so that it will get its own post next week, but I was truly inspired by the citrus dishes we were served. Citrus was party of every dish in our tasting but it played a different role in each, truly showing off its versatility. I’ve scanned back through my notes and gone on the search for recipes similar to those we enjoyed at the tasting with the hope that you’ll be as inspired as I was to get your citrus on this winter.

Shrimp and Grapefruit Salad with Fennel: This lovely cold salad featured perfectly cooked shrimp, crisp fennel, slightly sweet grapefruit, and a drizzle of light olive oil. The tastes and textures were well balanced to allow each ingredient to shine without overshadowing the others. To put a similar dish on your table, try Sautéed Shrimp with Spicy Grapefruit.

Baked Salmon with Citrus Goat Cheese and Roasted Cauliflower: I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t like salmon as much as I should. I don’t dislike it, but I don’t love it, which is not a good thing because salmon is so very good for us. This year I promised myself I’d find ways to like salmon, and this dish will help me get there pretty quickly. The chef topped a perfectly cooked piece of salmon with goat cheese blended with herbs and citrus. The balance of creamy goat cheese, tangy citrus, and earthy herbs was a fantastic companion to the fresh salmon. To try a dish similar to this one, whip up a recipe of Citrus Broiled Alaska Salmon and then mix some fresh herbs and citrus zest into goat cheese as a garnish.

Key Lime Tart: I love key limes in every possible incarnation: pie, tart, cookies, or sorbet. You name it, I like it. As you might imagine, I was most excited to see our tasting end with a light and creamy tart. Sometimes creamy pies and tarts can be too heavy so the citrus is almost muted, defeating the entire purpose of the dessert in the first place. Not so in this case – it was really fantastic. Having tried several key lime recipes in my day, I can highly recommend Martha Stewart’s Key Lime Tart. While it may be difficult to get key limes other times during the year, they are in abundance right now, so go out, get some, and make a tart!

If these three recipes recommendations aren’t your cup o’ tea (or cup o’ juice), you can find even more citrus inspiration in these recipe collections:

• Central Market
• Epicurious
• Saveur

When I left class I was inspired to come up with my own citrus recipe to share here. I had the goat cheese salmon on my mind and the staff at Central Market said their blood oranges are amazing this year, so I decided to combine the two and create a blood orange and goat cheese crostini. These little bites come together in a matter of minutes. Supreming the orange is the most arduous task but is well worth it. They are perfect for a light lunch or as an appetizer before a meal. The citrus is the star of the show here and this recipe really lets it shine. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Recipe: Goat Cheese Crostini with Greens and Blood Oranges

Details

• Difficulty: Easy
• Serves: 8 as an appetizer, 4 as light lunch
• Prep Time: 20 min
• Cook Time: 15 min

Ingredients

• 1 baguette, sliced on a diagonal into 16 pieces
• Olive oil for drizzling
• Salt and pepper
• 2 Tbsp. freshly squeezed blood orange juice
• 1 Tbsp. champagne vinegar
• 1 medium shallot, minced
• 1 tsp. honey
• 2 Tbsp. good olive oil
• ¼ tsp. salt
• 1/8 tsp. pepper
• 3 cups baby greens
• 4 oz. goat cheese
• 32 segments from 2-3 blood oranges

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Place the baguette slices on a baking sheet about 1 inch apart. Drizzle evenly with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
3. Bake for 10-15 minutes or until crispy.
4. Combine the juice, vinegar, shallot, and honey in a medium bowl and whisk to combine. Continuing whisking and slowly stream the olive oil into the bowl. Season the vinaigrette with salt and pepper. Taste and adjust for seasoning with more salt and pepper if necessary.
5. Add the baby greens to the vinaigrette in the bowl and toss gently to coat the greens.
6. To assemble the crostini, spread baguette slice with a thin layer of goat cheese, top with a small bunch of the dressed greens and two blood orange segments.

Recipe for Success

• If you can’t find blood oranges, regular oranges will work as a substitution.
• Be sure to taste your vinaigrette for balance before you coat the greens with it. Some blood oranges may be more tart than others, so you may need to add a touch more honey to account for that tartness.
• Create the orange segments using the supreming technique. If you’ve never supreme citrus, watch Ming Tsai’s video for a great overview of the technique. The process is a little time consuming but the beautiful segments are well worth it.