A Zesty Cure to Winter Ills

About author / Amy Powell

World traveler; gourmet 30 minute meals; lover of exotic ingredients; winner on FoodTV's Chefs vs City; graduate French Culinary Institute. Her recipes will tantalize your taste buds.

As it turns out flu season has just now arrived, far later than is typical perhaps thanks to the unusually warm winter in many parts of the country. It is great timing then that the first California tangerines of the season have also just arrived, the perfect excuse for me to up my daily dose of Vitamin C and ward off sickness in the waning days of winter.

When it comes to citrus, I’ve never been one for eating oranges raw. That whole orange-section-smiley-face thing always seemed a bit too messy for me even as a kid. But tangerines, will their sweeter juice and easy-to-peel skin have a lot going for them: all the tangy bright citrus notes but a bit sweeter and so much easier to handle.

It is good to know then that just like its orange citrus relatives, the tangerine packs a punch of good-for-you health benefits. In addition to Vitamin C, these fruits are a great source of beta-carotene and folate. Recent research published in The Journal of Diabetes also suggests that a component in tangerine skins may protect against Type 2 diabetes.

With so many healthful benefits rolled up in that little pebbly orange ball, not to mention wonderfully sweet and tangy fruit flavors, it stands to reason I should find more ways to incorporate tangerines into my daily eating beyond its role as a stand-alone afternoon snack.

When I get to thinking about it, tangerines have many applications from salad and side dishes through to main courses and dessert. The natural sugars and acidity in tangerines are natural complements to the bitterness of certain early spring vegetables like asparagus, or late winter hangers on like Brussels sprouts. A platter of blanched asparagus does well with vinaigrette of tangerine juice, olive oil, and a smattering of minced red onion.

Starchy white beans benefit from the juice and zest of tangerines. Tossed together with oil, garlic, and herbs, the beans and citrus form a lovely warm winter salad that can be had alone or served alongside just cooked shrimp, squid or calamari, drizzled with some hot paprika oil, for light weekend lunch.

Considering the ancestors of today’s tangerines can be traced back to south east Asia and the Philippines, it is perhaps no wonder that the juice and dried peel of tangerines work remarkably well when incorporated into Chinese stir fries. Consider the classics Orange Chicken or Orange Beef and Broccoli. Try substituting sweeter tangerine juice and peel for tart orange juice to cut down on the amount of sugar needed in the finished soy, garlic, ginger sauce.

This only leaves dessert, where tangerines have history of lending their aromatic oil and sweet juices everything from fruit salads to cake glazes. For the sake of simplicity, I might outsource this one and pick up a pint of tangerine sorbet. A scoop of sorbet paired with a couple of antioxidant rich dark chocolates, now that is some flu-fighting health food I can get used to.

Serves/Makes: 2

• 1 can small white beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 large tangerine
• 1 teaspoon honey
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne
• 3 tablespoons minced shallot
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• salt and black pepper
• 1/4 cup chopped flat leaf parsley
• 8 jumbo shrimp, tail on, peeled
• 4 tablespoons butter