All About Blood Oranges

Citrus adds a clean bright flavor to recipes and winter is it’s prime season. Oranges have many species….mandarin, pomelo, Seville, navel, blood orange, and cara cara to name a few…. and of these, the blood orange is my absolute favorite! It’s great just to eat on it’s own, use the segments in a salad or stir fry or microplane the zest to stir into salad dressings and batters for a fabulous citrus flavor! Feel free to substitute a blood orange for any other type of orange in a recipe! So let me introduce you to my good friend the blood orange!

Blood oranges:

• Are available December through May
• Have few or no seeds
• Get their name from the deep rich garnet color of their flesh
• Have an orange rind with a bright red blush
• Have a beautiful red juice
• Have a sweet-tart citrus juice with a hint of raspberry
• Are primarily grown in Italy and are also grown in California and Texas
• Typically will have 3 oranges in 1 pound
• 1 pound of blood oranges will yield about 1 cup of juice

Nutrition of Blood Oranges:

• Rich in antioxidants
• Source of Vitamin C
• Contain calcium
• Provide 28% of the recommended daily intake of fiber
• Contain Vitamin A
• A medium blood orange is 70 calories and contains no fat, sodium or cholesterol!

My sweet granddaughter Emma making homemade blood orange juice!

How to select and store blood oranges:

• Select a firm fruit
• Be sure the orange is heavy in weight for it’s size
• Store at room temperature for a few days
• Store in the refrigerator for up to two weeks

Ways to use blood oranges:

• Cut into wedges and combine with onion wedges and roast with chicken
• Stir orange segments into a stir fry
• Add slices to iced tea, a punch , a cocktail or seltzer…with vodka, if you’d like
• Stir zest into cookie dough or cake batter
• Add orange segments to a salad
• Stir zest into a salad dressing

Let me know how you enjoy your

blood oranges!