Kids Club Vol. 25: Oranges
KIDS CLUB
VOLUME 25
Welcome to the latest issue of our ChopChop Kids Club newsletter!
Welcome to the latest ChopChop Kids Club newsletter! This month we’re eating oranges! Plus doing a lot more with them—like learning about their flavor and history, using the zest to flavor cooking oil, and even making holiday gifts from them. Plus, we’re peeling and eating them just like that, too. Because we love oranges.
Happy holidays to all of you from all of us.
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
- RECIPE
Winter Salad
Winter Salad with Orange Vinaigrette
kitchen gear
- Cutting board
- Sharp knife (adult needed)
- Measuring cup
- Measuring spoons
- Clean jar with tight-fitting lid
- Medium-sized bowl
- Salad servers or tongs
- Box grater (adult needed)
Ingredients
- For the Orange Vinaigrette:
- 2 tablespoons orange juice
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice or vinegar
- 1⁄4 cup olive oil
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- pinch black pepper
- For the salad:
- 1 head romaine lettuce, washed and chopped
- 1⁄4 head red cabbage, cored and shredded
- 1 orange, peeled and pulled apart into sections
- 1⁄2 cup toasted green pumpkin seeds (or another toasted seed or nut)
- 1⁄4 cup grated cheddar cheese or crumbled feta cheese
Instructions
- Make the Orange Vinaigrette: Put all the vinaigrette ingredients in the jar, screw the lid on tightly, and shake until well mixed.
- Make the Salad: Put all the salad ingredients in the bowl, add half the vinaigrette, and toss well. Taste a piece of lettuce. Does it need more dressing? If so, add it and toss again.
- Serve right away. Leftover dressing can be refrigerated for up to 1 week.
Notes
- KITCHEN SKILL
How to Juice an Orange
If you’ve got a gadget at home—a citrus squeezer or juicer—ask someone to show you how to use it. Otherwise, try this method, which works well for any citrus fruit:
1. Put the fruit on a flat surface (like a countertop) and press down on it with the palm of your hand. While you press, roll it back and forth a couple of times. This squishes the inside of the fruit a little bit to help the juice come out.
2. Cut the fruit right through the center (where the equator would be if the fruit were Earth) into two halves.
3. Working with one half at a time, hold the fruit over a bowl and stick a fork into the cut side. Squeeze the fruit and wiggle the fork back and forth to extract the juice. Squeeze hard to get every last drop! Then do the other half.
- KITCHEN SCIENCE
The Flavors of an Orange
When it comes to cooking, oranges have so much to offer. The juice lends a sweet-tart jolt of puckery deliciousness, while the grated zest adds the strong and fragrant flavor of the fruit. To learn what the different parts taste like, try this.
1. Scrub an orange all over with a clean sponge, then rinse it under running water and dry it.
2. Begin with the zest—the colored part of the peel. Use a vegetable peeler (or your thumbnail) to sliver off a strip. Now pinch it and smell it. How does it smell? Nibble a little bite of it. How does it taste?
3. Now cut the orange open (ask an adult for help) and squeeze some of its juice into a glass. Smell the juice. Does it smell like the zest? How or how not? Take a sip. What does it taste like? Is it sweet? Sour? Bitter? A combination?
4. Which part tastes more orangey to you?
According to Guinness World Records, the largest orange was grown in Fresno, California, in 2006, and measured 25 inches around its widest point—about the same size as an inflated party balloon!
- WHERE IN THE WORLD
Mandarin Oranges
Mandarin oranges are displayed and given as gifts during the two-week celebration of Chinese Lunar New Year. They’re traditional symbols of good luck and abundance.
- INSTANT SNACK
Cinnamon Oranges
Cinnamon might make you think of apples, but it goes great with oranges, too. The flavor combination is both a little strange and completely perfect. Simply cut an orange into slices (get an adult’s help), then sprinkle a little cinnamon on each slice and eat.
Practice Gratitude
- Make a reverse wish list of twenty things you already have that you’re grateful for.
- Make a donation of any amount to a charitable organization doing work you believe in.
- Tell each person in your family why you feel lucky to have them in your life.
Get Crafty: Pomander
A pomander is basically an old-fashioned air freshener! To make one, use a toothpick to poke holes in an orange, then stick a whole clove into each hole. You can stick cloves all over the whole orange, if you have the patience, or you can make a pattern or the shape of a letter. Whatever you decide, use plenty of cloves, since they help preserve the orange and keep it from rotting. Dust the orange with a sprinkle of cinnamon, then put it in a paper bag in a cool, dry place for a couple of weeks until it’s dried out a bit. Tie a ribbon around it and give it to a person who will appreciate how good it makes their closet, office, or car smell!
- FOOD HISTORY
Planting Trees
Because oranges have loads of vitamin C and keep well, 16th-century Portuguese, Spanish, and Dutch sailors planted citrus trees along trade routes to harvest the fruit and prevent scurvy, a disease caused by lack of vitamin C.
