Sure, it's easy to find fresh seasonal fruit under the summer sun, but did you know that winter is the best time for citrus?
Gorgeous grapefruit from Florida, at the peak of their availability in February, are tumbling into supermarket produce sections. They're ready for you to section into fruit bowls, put over salads, top with yogurt and even use as a wonderfully sweet and tart dessert.
Cut juicy pink grapefruit in half and run under the broiler for a few minutes to caramelize the natural sugars inside. Refreshing grapefruit from “the Sunshine State” not only brightens winter taste buds; it offers a terrific source of vitamin C, the mineral potassium, dietary fiber and folic acid.
Grapefruit has a long history of being known as a diet-friendly fruit. That’s because it doesn’t contain as much sugar as most other fruit, so it is lower in calories. One-half of a medium grapefruit contains only 60 calories, and with fewer than 100 calories per 8-ounce serving, grapefruit juice contains fewer calories than many commonly consumed 100 percent fruit juices.
The grapefruit league
Grapefruit is delicious all by itself, so you can add it to salsas and use grapefruit juice instead of vinegar in salad dressings.
“I love grapefruit,” says Anne Quatrano, executive chef and co-owner of several prominent Atlanta restaurants, including Bacchanalia, Floataway Cafe and Abattoir.
She says grapefruit finds its way into just about every course when it’s in season. “We are roasting grapefruit to caramelize and extract the flavors and use it as a component for a foie gras dish. I love the way it cuts the richness of lobster to make it even better. We use it in cocktails, and I love grapefruit combined with tarragon for desserts.”
Winemaker Janet Trefethen of Trefethen Family Vineyards in Napa Valley, Calif., suggests pairing recipes starring grapefruit’s aromatic flavors with an un-oaked or lightly oaked chardonnay: “The bright acidity and citrus character of the wine would play beautifully with the dish, and I think they would complement each other.”
February’s finest
- Peak season for Florida grapefruit.
- 100 calories per 8-ounce glass of grapefruit juice.
- 60 calories per half of a medium grapefruit.
- Pink grapefruit are higher in beta carotene (vitamin A) than the white variety.
- Excellent source of vitamin C: One cup provides more than 100 percent of daily needs.
- Good source of potassium and folic acid (important for heart health).
Grapefruit footnote:
Certain compounds in grapefruit can interfere with the way some medications are metabolized, including statin drugs and calcium channel blockers. Check with your physician or pharmacist to be sure.
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