'How bland life is without citrus?' What to know about this winter wonder

Colorful citrus fruits are a bright spot of winter eating

Oranges and grapefruits bring fresh, zesty bursts of flavor, fragrance and color when Wisconsin’s produce still lies dormant.

What’s more, the beauty of citrus runs so much more than skin deep. Grapefruit, oranges, mandarins and their long list of hybrids are remarkably healthful immune system boosters. Readily available, they offer a convenient way to sneak more fruit into our diets.

Here’s some sound citrus advice and tips from a local dietitian, Florida grower and direct truck seller, and a Sendik’s Food Market produce manager.

Why you should eat the pith

Oranges and grapefruits are among the handiest “fast” foods with beneficial qualities.

“The health benefits are beyond Vitamin C,” said Betty Holloway, dietitian and owner of Brookfield-based Nutriphoria. “Oranges have at least 170 individual phytonutrients. The navel orange also is a good source of 3 grams of fiber and only 80 calories, so it’s very nutrient dense.”

Nutriphoria specializes in improving health through plant-based nutrition, offering individual consulting, group cooking classes and presentations serving southeastern Wisconsin.

For years, Holloway said, researchers believed the main value of citrus was its Vitamin C. She pointed to the orange, sweet, powdered drink mix Tang that was popular during the 1960s and ‘70s. “Vitamin C was added because it was considered the main value of oranges,” she said.

While oranges and grapefruits are high in Vitamin C, there is more to their story of unsung health benefits.

For example, researchers are better understanding the value of phytonutrients, which are compounds produced in plants that are believed to be beneficial to human health. Only a small fraction of phytonutrients has been studied in depth, according to the USDA website, but findings suggest they have a greater role in health than previously known.

Phytonutrients can benefit vision, the immune system, plus skin, bone and heart health; they can also help prevent various cancers and reduce inflammation in the body, according to the USDA.

And citrus pith, the white substance found between the sweet pulp and outer skin, contains a ton of phytonutrients, according to Holloway. Unfortunately, most people discard the pith along with the skin and lose out on a major benefit of oranges and grapefruits. Pith has four times as much phytonutrients as the sweet part of the fruit, Holloway said.

Is juice just as good?

For maximum health benefits, Holloway recommended eating whole fruit, rather than juicing it. Store-bought commercial juice lacks many of the nourishing properties of fresh whole fruit. For those who like juice, freshly squeezed is more healthful, she said.

Many home cooks and bakers grate citrus zest into recipes. When zesting the peel, Holloway recommended getting down to the pith, which contradicts conventional cooking advice.

To incorporate more citrus into your diet, she recommended adding oranges or grapefruit to green salads because the combination boosts nutrition.

“The Vitamin C that’s in those fruits then interacts with the iron, magnesium, all those minerals in the greens. It’s more bioavailable. Your body can absorb the minerals in the dark greens much more effectively,” Holloway said. “I just love citrus in the winter. I always put it in the salads.”

Fresh citrus juice can also be added to the salad dressing or simply drizzled over the greens to further boost flavor and aroma.

Oranges vs. grapefruits. Which wins?

As for grapefruit, Holloway recommended the “wonderful” pink or red varieties over the white. Fruits more intense in color tend to have greater health benefits, she said. Plus, the red variety will be sweeter and palatable to more people. Just skip the sugar some grew up having on grapefruit, and try to include some of the pith.

In comparing grapefruit and oranges, grapefruit alone is loaded with Vitamin A, which is needed for eye health, supporting the immune system, and protecting against inflammation. One grapefruit provides nearly 75% ofthe daily requirement of Vitamin A, while oranges provide only 4%, according the FDA. In addition, grapefruit contains lycopene, an antioxidant also found in tomatoes and watermelon.

Grapefruit brings bitterness to the palate that helps make us content with our diet, Holloway explained. If you don’t think you crave bitter foods, consider that coffee and dark chocolate, even beer, are bitter foods.

With oranges, pleasing flavor combinations include vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, chocolate, poultry, fish, pork, garlic, pistachios, pecans, almonds, hazelnuts, maple and honey.

It also brightens other fruits and vegetables, including avocados, brussels sprouts, spinach, green beans, blueberries, strawberries, cherries, raspberries and cranberries.

Before eating, bring citrus to room temperature for the best flavor, juiciness and easiest peeling.

Historically, oranges were highly prized, especially at Christmas. Holloway recalled her grandmother using the peels to make candy.

“It was considered the best gift,” she said of oranges. “How bland life is without citrus? I think it’s a real treat.”

When does the freshest citrus arrive?

Citrus season in the U.S. comes during winter when prices are at their lowest. Unlike apples, however, oranges don’t exactly grow on trees in the Midwest.

One way to score the freshest citrus fruits is to find a direct truckload sale. Indian River Direct truck sales, loaded with fresh Florida citrus, stops in over 40 places in the Dairy State over the winter.

Also, Wisconsin-based Tree-Ripe Fruit, perhaps better known for its peach truck deliveries in summer, makes its citrus truck stops earlier in the season, in December. It ships citrus as it comes into season later in winter, with ordering through tree-ripe.com.

From Beloit to Green Bay with plenty of stops in between, Indian River Direct will be in West Bend and Mount Pleasant on Feb. 21, Mukwonago, Burlington and Franklin on Feb. 22; Waukesha, Pewaukee and Germantown on Feb. 23. Some of the other stops include Madison, Fond du Lac, Oshkosh, Kenosha, Wausau, Grand Chute and Manitowoc. Visit indianriverdirect.com for a complete schedule with places, times and prices.

Just how fresh is the citrus?

“Within two or three days, it’s in the hands of the customers,” said Angela Doyle, office manager for Indian River Direct, based in southeastern Florida, just north of Palm Beach. Doyle said they drive through the night once their fruit is picked.

In contrast, Doyle said supermarket citrus can sometimes sit in warehouses for weeks and can be “gassed” to promote ripeness. Also known as degreening, this involves using ethylene gas to turn green skin to orange.

“No gassing,” she said of Indian River Direct. “We grow our own grove. We are very involved with growing, harvesting, owning our own fleet. It’s very fresh; it’s handpicked, tree ripened. We 100% guarantee our fruit."

In addition to handling its own truckload sales, Indian River owns and grows its own citrus trees, Doyle said. The produce is not available online; it’s strictly sold through truck sales.

Indian River Direct sells 20-pound boxes of ruby red grapefruit and seedless navel oranges for $40, plus Super Sweets tangerines for $45 for a 20-pound box.

The fruit is noticeably heavy for its size, an indication of freshness. “They are very easy to peel,” Doyle said of the tangerines. “They are a little bit smaller than a navel, but they are very, very flavorful. They are very sweet. Theirskin is bright orange; not as juicy but very different than a navel.”

What are Honeybells and Temple oranges?

Also available from Indian River Direct in February are the rarer, later-season Honeybells and Temple oranges. Doyle advised customers to check the website for updates on availability and pricing of the Honeybells and Temples in February.

Honeybells, with their “extreme juiciness,” are a tangerine-grapefruit hybrid with none of the bitterness of a grapefruit, according to Doyle. “They are the juiciest orange I’ve ever eaten. They are really rare fruit.”

Because of their bell shape, Honeybells must be cut, not picked, off the trees to keep their skin intact. Even in Florida, Doyle said, she rarely sees them in stores.

Temple oranges are a cross between an orange and tangerine with the tanginess of the tangerine and the sweetness of an orange. Doyle said the window is very small when these hybrids are available.

Foodies should also note that Indian River Direct also sells fresh, raw Georgian pecans at $12 for a 1-pound bag.

If you’re wondering how much citrus you can stock up on, their website recommends keeping citrus on the counter a maximum of four to five days, otherwise refrigerate it for three to eight weeks. Store it loosely in a low-humidity crisper drawer. Do not put citrus in a plastic bag or airtight container as the oranges need air circulation. Use up the ones getting soft first.

Remember, too, citrus can be made into marmalade, another winter treat.

Are there other seasonal citrus events?

Meanwhile, in southeastern Wisconsin grocery stores, plenty of citrus fruits are readily available.Sendik’s Food Markets hold their Citrus Celebration starting Feb. 15, according to produce manager Jason Hug.

This winter, much of the citrus is late and slightly higher in price from last season, Hug said. Much of it is coming from California and Texas, he said.

Shoppers can enjoy free samples of citrus varieties including stem and leaf mandarins, blood oranges and Cara Cara oranges during the Citrus Celebration. Hug said unique varieties that are not normally available will be for sale.

In addition to common navel oranges, Juicy Crunch tangerines and mandarins are popular choices now at Sendik’s.

Hug said Honeybells may become available in February but wasn’t sure. In any case, he said, the store will be stocked full of citrus. Fresh-squeezed citrus juices will be plentiful, too.

His personal favorite citrus fruit? Stem and leaf mandarin. “I just like the flavor. It’s very strong. They’ve got a little tartness to them, as well,” he said.

What are Cuties and Halos?

For consumers, it’s easy to get confused by the dizzying array of types, subtypes, hybrids, cultivars, common names, store names, trademark and brand names.

Online sources often contradict each other. Factor in that some fruits go by different names for the same fruit. In addition to navel oranges and grapefruits, citrus choices can include mandarins, tangerines, Clementines, satsumas, tangelos, Valencias, minneolas, kumquats and pomelos.

“Cuties,” widely available in bags or boxes, market themselves as kid-friendly, sweet, seedless California mandarins. Cuties can be two types of mandarins: Clementine mandarins available November through January; and W. Murcott mandarins available February through April, according to cutiescitrus.com.

Bagged or boxed “Halos” are also marketed as kid-friendly, sweet and seedless Californian mandarins. They are grown nearly seedless through plant breeding techniques and by keeping bees away during flowering, according to halosfun.com. Halos can be three mandarin varieties: Clementines, W. Murcott or Afourers and Tangos, according to the Halo website.

In sorting out all the orange nomenclature, just remember the mandarin types, including tangerines and Clementines, tend to be smaller and sweeter with looser, thinner skin that’s easy to peel.

Conventional advice is to try different citrus varieties and find your favorites. Whatever you choose, it will brighten your winter eating.

Jennifer Rude Klett is a Wisconsin freelance writer of Midwestern life and author of “Home Cooking Comfort,” contact her at jrudeklett.com. Follow her on Facebook at Jennifer Rude Klett: Nonfiction Writer.

Recipe

Spinach arugula salad with mandarins combines the sweet tanginess of mandarins, the slight bite of arugula and creaminess of an avocado. Crunchy pecans and mildly salty queso fresco cheese top it off for a salad that is off-the-charts healthful and a delight for the taste buds.

Of course, any variety of orange or grapefruit can substitute for the mandarin. For additional savory or sweet recipes using mandarins or other citrus, visit cutiescitrus.com, halosfun.com or sunkist.com.

Spinach arugula salad with mandarins

Makes 2 servings

Recipe tested by Jennifer Rude Klett

• 4 cups spinach and arugula greens, washed

• 1 mandarin orange, peeled

• 1 ripe avocado, peeled, cut into bite-sized pieces

• 10 to 12 whole pecans

• Balsamic vinaigrette dressing, to taste

• 2 ounces queso fresco cheese, or any crumbling cheese

Divide spinach and arugula greens onto two plates. Gently squeeze a little mandarin juice over the plated greens. Arrange half of the mandarin sections on each plate, followed by half the avocado cubes. Add five to six pecans a plate and drizzle with balsamic vinaigrette dressing. Crumble cheese over the top. Serve immediately.

Note: If mandarins are extra small, use two.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: What to know about citrus; when oranges, grapefruits are in Wisconsin