How To Make The Most of Citrus Season

While winter can seem like a season when there’s little to do or see in the world of fresh produce, it’s prime time for citrus. Though it’s often thought of as a homogeneously pale, sour group, the citrus genus is actually quite varied in taste (from sweet lemons to bitter oranges to pomelos), color (from adorable pink eureka lemons to gory blood oranges), texture (finger limes to makrut limes), and shape (have you seen a Buddha’s hand?!).

That diversity is what makes citrus one of our favorite things to use in the kitchen. We love to eat it just about every which way you can make: sliced, zested, juiced, grilled, or even just peeled and eaten on the go. We’ve made fruit s’mores with slices of grapefruit, brewed turmeric lemonade when we were feeling blue, zested lemons for lemon ricotta crostini, fermented yuzu for a stiff drink, and juiced limes in a refreshing mocktail. And when we’ve lacked any culinary inspiration, we’ve just throw whatever we had lying around together in citrus tea (aka “white coffee”, a caffeine free alternative), perfect for keeping you warm on cold winter nights.

Beyond its culinary properties, citrus is rich in Vitamin C, an important antioxidant for skin health, whether you eat it or mix it into a nourishing scrub. Even just the scent of citrus uplift and energize (it is often invoked for this effect in aromatherapy), and is especially comforting in the winter months, when its sharp lightness is a welcome relief from the weather outdoors. In short, no matter how, when, or where you use it, citrus makes Winter just a little bit sunnier.