Color Kitchen

Welcome to Color Kitchen!

The easiest way to make a beautiful meal is to use ingredients that are naturally gorgeous!

Recipes incorporating natural color combinations are uploaded regularly; please try them, make your own masterpieces, and send us your photos! Post to facebook (facebook.com/thecolorkitchen), or tweet us @thecolorkitchen.

Eat beautifully!


~ Friday, April 8 ~
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Orange you inlove with citrus? Eek, I actually said that.  MOVING ON… Despite a general uniformity of peel tones, the insides of citrus fruits can be a lovely surprise! And while they may be hard to distinguish in the market, the different shades of flesh pack in pretty varied flavors. Most markets label the fruit for easy picking, and here’s a breakdown of a few wonderful varieties. ORANGES Navel: These Californians have thick, easy-to-rip peel and a cute “outie.” They are seedless, bright orange, and are best between February and April. Great for eating on the go! Valencia: The juice orange! This seed-less variety comes from Florida, is a pain to peel (really thin rind) but packs a ton of juice for squeezing. FYI, fresh-squeezed orange juice should be ORANGE, not yellow. Cara cara:This pink navel variety originated in Venezuela, and is sweeter than a normal naval. Its pink flesh is super pretty and it works incredibly well with seafood. Blood: I love me a blood orange! The deep red color comes from a high presence of anthocyanins (the same chemical that gives some flowers, like purple orchids, their great hue, and make red cabbage that awesome fuschia). Anthocyanins are present in acai, blackberries, blueberries, and most high anti-oxidant fruits. The taste is harsher and more tart than a conventional orange— great for mixed drinks or use in sauces.  Seville Sour: The Yellow Orange! A more bitter, acidic breed of orange, the Seville is great for alcoholic drinks or tangy marinades. There are, however, tons of seeds… If you like these, try Bergamot! They’re similarly acidic and purfume-y, but seedless. MANDARINS Small, sweet, orange, delicious. There are more varieties than I care to discuss, but the best are the clemenvilla, a cross between a clementine and tangelo.  KUMQUATS Say it without laughing? Not an orange, but a small citrus fruit with an orange skin. These perplex me, but I’m willing to try them out… LEMONS Lisbon/Eureka: The most common lemons, the lisbon and eureka, are a pale seeded yellow and are very tart. You know what to do with them. Meyer: NOT ACTUALLY A LEMON! HA! This is really a hybrid between a lemon and a mandarin, which is why their skin is a deeper, more orange shade and their flesh sweeter. Cooking with these lemons requires less added sugar, and has a bit more depth than the straight acidity of a regular lemon. They’re best between winter and early spring. Yuzu: The greenish rind of the yuzu lemon can make it easily mistakable for a lime. In fact, it’s another hybrid from mandarins! This Japanese fruit is much more fragrant and intense than other lemons, and is used in Ponzu sauce.   The Variegated Pink Lemon: Exactly what it sounds like! This lemon turns from green-striped yellow to a warm pink-ish yellow as it ripens. The pink flesh is full of anti-oxidants, and great for rosy lemonade. LIMES The Sweet Lime is super pale green, really more yellow. And it is what it sounds like: sweet. Great for candies and baked goods! The Rangpur Lime: also, NOT a lime. Another hybrid mutant citrus fruit that is gorgeously orange and has a bold flavor that is great with warm things (like a HOT TODDY, or cider).  Kieffer Lime: GREEN AND BUMPY! Despite being the most lime-like, this just LOOKS mutant. The leaf from this fruit is highly praised in Thai foods, and zest from the rind packs a super strong flavor. The whole shebang! GRAPEFRUIT Ruby: Ruby grapefruits have a few different varieties, but they’re all pink, and much sweeter than a white or yellow grapefruit. They work well in combination with the cara cara oranges in cooking, and are the best choice for breakfast! Other interesting “grapefruit” varieties are actually.. PUMMELOS Pummelos are the ancestor of all grapefruits, and come from Asia. They are the BIGGEST of all citrus fruits, much sweeter than the grapefruit, and come in a variety of shades and accents. The Melogold is a best-seller, with a very pale—but sweet— flesh.  + a gold star to anyone who can tell us about citrons! We’ve hear that the Etrog Citron (which looks like a bumpy-skinned egg) is important as an aromatic for the Jewish Holiday Sukkot, but has anyone cooked with it?? (Photo by Mia Tramz)

Orange you inlove with citrus? Eek, I actually said that. 

MOVING ON…

Despite a general uniformity of peel tones, the insides of citrus fruits can be a lovely surprise! And while they may be hard to distinguish in the market, the different shades of flesh pack in pretty varied flavors. Most markets label the fruit for easy picking, and here’s a breakdown of a few wonderful varieties.

ORANGES

Navel: These Californians have thick, easy-to-rip peel and a cute “outie.” They are seedless, bright orange, and are best between February and April. Great for eating on the go!

Valencia: The juice orange! This seed-less variety comes from Florida, is a pain to peel (really thin rind) but packs a ton of juice for squeezing. FYI, fresh-squeezed orange juice should be ORANGE, not yellow.

Cara cara:This pink navel variety originated in Venezuela, and is sweeter than a normal naval. Its pink flesh is super pretty and it works incredibly well with seafood.

Blood: I love me a blood orange! The deep red color comes from a high presence of anthocyanins (the same chemical that gives some flowers, like purple orchids, their great hue, and make red cabbage that awesome fuschia). Anthocyanins are present in acai, blackberries, blueberries, and most high anti-oxidant fruits. The taste is harsher and more tart than a conventional orange— great for mixed drinks or use in sauces. 

Seville Sour: The Yellow Orange! A more bitter, acidic breed of orange, the Seville is great for alcoholic drinks or tangy marinades. There are, however, tons of seeds… If you like these, try Bergamot! They’re similarly acidic and purfume-y, but seedless.

MANDARINS

Small, sweet, orange, delicious. There are more varieties than I care to discuss, but the best are the clemenvilla, a cross between a clementine and tangelo. 

KUMQUATS

Say it without laughing? Not an orange, but a small citrus fruit with an orange skin. These perplex me, but I’m willing to try them out…

LEMONS

Lisbon/Eureka: The most common lemons, the lisbon and eureka, are a pale seeded yellow and are very tart. You know what to do with them.

Meyer: NOT ACTUALLY A LEMON! HA! This is really a hybrid between a lemon and a mandarin, which is why their skin is a deeper, more orange shade and their flesh sweeter. Cooking with these lemons requires less added sugar, and has a bit more depth than the straight acidity of a regular lemon. They’re best between winter and early spring.

Yuzu: The greenish rind of the yuzu lemon can make it easily mistakable for a lime. In fact, it’s another hybrid from mandarins! This Japanese fruit is much more fragrant and intense than other lemons, and is used in Ponzu sauce.  

The Variegated Pink Lemon: Exactly what it sounds like! This lemon turns from green-striped yellow to a warm pink-ish yellow as it ripens. The pink flesh is full of anti-oxidants, and great for rosy lemonade.

LIMES

The Sweet Lime is super pale green, really more yellow. And it is what it sounds like: sweet. Great for candies and baked goods!

The Rangpur Lime: also, NOT a lime. Another hybrid mutant citrus fruit that is gorgeously orange and has a bold flavor that is great with warm things (like a HOT TODDY, or cider). 

Kieffer Lime: GREEN AND BUMPY! Despite being the most lime-like, this just LOOKS mutant. The leaf from this fruit is highly praised in Thai foods, and zest from the rind packs a super strong flavor. The whole shebang!

GRAPEFRUIT

Ruby: Ruby grapefruits have a few different varieties, but they’re all pink, and much sweeter than a white or yellow grapefruit. They work well in combination with the cara cara oranges in cooking, and are the best choice for breakfast!

Other interesting “grapefruit” varieties are actually..

PUMMELOS

Pummelos are the ancestor of all grapefruits, and come from Asia. They are the BIGGEST of all citrus fruits, much sweeter than the grapefruit, and come in a variety of shades and accents. The Melogold is a best-seller, with a very pale—but sweet— flesh. 

+ a gold star to anyone who can tell us about citrons! We’ve hear that the Etrog Citron (which looks like a bumpy-skinned egg) is important as an aromatic for the Jewish Holiday Sukkot, but has anyone cooked with it??

(Photo by Mia Tramz)

Tags: citrus rainbow food cooking