Easy Orange Granita Recipe (52 New Foods, Around the World Week 3)
Posted by Jennifer Tyler Lee on January 18, 2013 2 Comments
This easy orange granita recipe was a deliciously fun
project for my kids and me! A simple twist on a favorite fruit: Satsuma
Mandarin Oranges.
Like sparklers against a
dark night sky, mandarin oranges at the local market add bright and cheerful pops
of color to dreary winter days and herald the coming of Chinese New Year!
Nature’s perfect “fast food”, mandarin oranges are regularly featured as lunch
box treats, after school snacks and even dessert at this time of year for my
family.
As we venture forward into another year of trying new foods, we wanted to prepare this favorite food in a new way. With a little inspiration from our blended family, a combination of Chinese and Italian roots, we decided to make a classic Italian dish with our simple Asian ingredient: Mandarin Orange Granita.
Easy Orange Granita Recipe
Prep time:
5 minutes
Cook time: 90 to 120 minutes
Yield: Makes 4 servings
Crunch a Color points: 5 orange
Ingredients:
8 Satsuma mandarin oranges
Note: you’ll also need an ice cube tray and a simple citrus press.
If you’re like us, you don’t
have time to scrape, then freeze, scrape, then freeze, to create a granita.
Instead, we made our orange granita the easy way, with our food processor. We
tried the recipe two ways: one with Clementine and the other with Satsuma
mandarin oranges. The Satsuma’s were far superior, both in color and taste, so
we’d highly recommend hunting them down at your market for this granita recipe.
It will be well worth your effort!
Directions:
1. Slice the Satsuma mandarin oranges in half (cutting through the middle of the orange as opposed to top to bottom). Using a simple citrus press, squeeze the juice out of the oranges.
2. Pour the juice into an ice
cube tray and place in the freezer. It can take up to two hours for the juice
to freeze completely.
3. Once frozen, remove the
juice cubes from the tray and load into a food processor.
4. Pulse until the frozen juice looks like
slush.
5. Enjoy!
* What
is your favorite granita recipe? Post your pictures and ideas on our Facebook
page.
Craving more easy recipes to try? Catch up on last week’s recipe: Sesame Green Bean Salad.
About the author: Jennifer Tyler Lee is a mom of two children and the creator of Crunch a Color® -- the award-winning nutrition games that make healthy eating fun. Like most parents, she struggled to get her kids to eat healthy, balanced meals, so she decided to make it into a healthy eating game and she’s giving back to support non-profit kids’ nutrition programs. Winner of the Dr. Toy and Parent Tested, Parent Approved awards, Crunch a Color® has been featured by Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution, Laurie David’s Family Dinner, Kiwi Magazine, Dr. Greene, and Yum Food & Fun For Kids, among many others, as a simple, fun and playful way to get kids to eat healthy and try new foods. Jennifer’s passion is making mealtime fun, easy and healthy for busy families. Her easy recipes, quick tips, and new food adventures are regularly featured at Pottery Barn Kids, Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution, The Huffington Post, and on her weekly recipe blog at crunchacolor.com.
Healthy Eating: Week 3, Mandarin Oranges (#52NewFoods)
Posted by Jennifer Lee on January 23, 2012 2 Comments
Gung Hay Fat Choy! Many mouth-watering foods are part of the Chinese New Year celebration, but Mandarin Oranges always top our list of favorites. Ambassadors of prosperity and good luck, Mandarin Oranges are the perfect food to ring in a New Year filled with healthy eating adventures!
Don’t you find that the best things in life are the simplest
things? Mandarin Oranges rank in the top quartile for simple pleasures in my
book. Perfectly sized
for little hands and packed with happiness (and vitamin C), they are easy
lunchbox companions, super snacks, and delectable for dessert. For playful food
artists like my daughter, Mandarin Oranges always make an easy and beautiful
feature food. Though lovable on
their own, we decided to venture out and try a new twist on one of our all-time
favorite foods.
Feature Recipe: Avocado and Orange Salad with Hazelnuts
I love salads – when someone else makes them for me. My
salads are predictably boring, so I adore when someone brings a spirited salad
to share and I’m always on the lookout for interesting, easy salad recipes. Natalie Perry's Avocado and Orange Salad with Hazelnuts fits the bill. True to Natalie’s warning, my
food adventurers were not fond of the dressing, so I let them whip up a
healthy concoction that would be pleasing to their palates. They used a base of olive
oil, added a splash of orange and lemon juices, and a touch of honey.
Delicious!
Crunch a Color’s Citrus Dressing
¼c olive oil
2 Tbsps orange juice
Juice from one lemon
1 Tbsp of honey
Salt to taste
Place all ingredients in a jar. Shake. Pour. Enjoy! (Tip: heat the honey for a few seconds in the microwave to make it mix more easily)
Crunch a Color Kids Vote: 2 Thumbs Up! We’ll definitely try this again.
What we liked: The toasted hazelnuts were the surprise contender in this new food
contest. Their wonderful aroma and nutty flavor were incredibly inviting. Instead
of chopping the nuts, I placed them in a Ziplock bag and let my daughter hammer
them with a rolling pin. Less stressful for me and great fun for her! Despite
my best effort, though, my kids didn’t try the salad greens. Instead, I made a taster plate of the individual elements -- avocados,
Mandarin Orange slices, and hazelnuts – and let the kids dip the fixings into
their homemade dressing. They enjoyed savoring their citrus creation alongside
some of their familiar favorites. I call that a success!
Healthy Eating: Week 4, Spinach
If my kids aren’t fond of salad greens, how am I going to
get them to try spinach? With Martian Muffins, that’s how! This week we’re
taking on the Big Daddy of healthy greens: Spinach! Thanks to Spinach Cake
Muffins from weelicious (aka Martian Muffins), my picky eaters may have met
their match.
Craving more new recipes to try? Catch up on last week’s recipe: Brussels Sprouts with Lemon and Pancetta.
About the author: Jennifer Tyler Lee is a mom of two children and the creator of Crunch a Color™ -- the award-winning game that makes healthy eating fun. Like most parents, she struggled to get her kids to eat healthy meals, so she decided to make it into a healthy eating game and she’s giving back to support Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution, FoodCorps, and Alice Water’s Edible Schoolyard. Watch her picky eaters tell the story of how they turned into healthy eaters playing the game. Follow @crunchacolor and #52NewFoods to tune into Crunch a Color's healthy eating adventure and Jennifer’s tips and kid-friendly, easy recipes.
