Best Recipes to Brighten the Coldest Winter Day
1. Preserved Lemons
I always have a jar of Preserved Lemons in the store cupboard.
They are an essential ingredient for Middle Eastern dishes and I love to throw them into stews and salads, dressings and marinades!
After about a week the lemons will start to look translucent and the peel will become very tender.
If you notice any mold on the lemons on top, it means the lemons were exposed to air. Simply remove the top layer of lemons and make sure the remaining lemons are submerged in the brine.
Ingredients for Preserved Lemons:
4 Lemon
1–2 tbsp Sea salt
OPTIONAL ADDITIONS:
bay leaves, peppercorns, other Whole spices
2. Naturally Sweetened Homemade Lemon Jello
This Naturally Sweetened Homemade Lemon Jello is a delicious jello recipe which is sweetened naturally with honey.
When you make this, make sure you use light colored honey so that the flavor doesn’t overpower the jello.
I also choose grass-fed gelatin which is free from GMOs, antibiotics and hormones.
Ingredients for Naturally Sweetened Homemade Lemon Jello:
½ cup Lemon juice
1½ cup Water
2 tbsp Gelatin
2 tbsp Honey
3. Grapefruit Coconut Bars
I love these Grapefruit Coconut Bars which bring a zesty tropical tang to the table. I like to decorate these bars with a coconut design.
To get a straight line every time, I take a knife or some other implement with a straight edge.
I hold the straight edge above each bar at an angle, while sprinkling with shredded coconut. They look so impressive!
Ingredients for Grapefruit Coconut Bars:
FOR THE COCONUT SHORTBREAD CRUST:
2 cups All-purpose flour
1 cup Shredded coconut
1½ tsp Ground ginger
1 tsp Sea salt
1 cup Unsalted butter
¾ cup Granulated sugar
2 tsp Vanilla extract
FOR THE GRAPEFRUIT FILLING:
6 Large eggs
2 cups Granulated sugar
1-2 Grapefruit
½ cup All-purpose flour
½ tsp Sea salt
½ cup Whole milk
1 cup Shredded coconut
4. Grapefruit Creamsicles
These Grapefruit Creamsicles are more than just a sweet treat and will definitely have your taste buds singing a sweet tune!
I use a regular, store-bought vanilla ice cream for the creamy part because it’s just easier and saves so much more time than preparing your own but this recipe does describe steps to making the grapefruit sorbet made from sugar-water syrup combined with hibiscus tea, grapefruit zest and grapefruit juice.
Ingredients for Grapefruit Creamsicles:
1/2 quart Vanilla ice cream
1 ¼ cups Sugar
2 tsp Dried hibiscus flowers
1 tbsp Grapefruit zest
1½ cups Grapefruit juice
1¼ cups Water
5. Pomegranate and Orange Fruit Salad
This Pomegranate and Orange Fruit Salad is a sweet, fruit salad of oranges and pomegranate seeds in a honey or maple, fresh orange juice and vanilla extract dressing, for an original and unbelievable combination.
I serve mine in glass bowls with a yogurt flavor of my choice, I love vanilla, and some toasted coconut sprinkled on top.
Ingredients for Pomegranate and Orange Fruit Salad:
4-5 Oranges
1 Pomegranate
1 tbsp Honey
2 tbsp Orange juice
½ tsp Vanilla extract
FOR SERVING:
2 cups (500g) Yogurt
Shredded coconut toasted, to taste
Fresh mint
6. No Bake Key Lime Pie in a Jar
I’m really loving jar puddings and desserts as a new design for serving your guests and this No Bake Key Lime Pie in a Jar once again, never fails.
This recipe prepares 4 jars, filled with layers of graham crackers and butter, kind of like a crumbly cake base and then a cream cheese, condensed milk, Greek yogurt and lime juice combination in between.
Ingredients for No Bake Key Lime Pie in a Jar:
1 package Graham crackers
2 tbsp Butter
1 (8-oz) package Cream Cheese
½ can (around 7 oz) Condensed milk
½ cup Greek yogurt
Key lime juice
4 tbsp Whipped topping
4 slice of Lime
Four 1/2 pint sized Mason jars
7. Slow Roasted Citrus Salmon
This Slow Roasted Citrus Salmon is not just for fancy dinner parties but ideal for family dinners too.
Most children can be quite picky when it comes to fish and seafood and I believe this recipe breaks all misconceptions.
Salmon fillets cooked in olive oil with lemons, blood oranges, tangerines, sprigs of thyme, parsley leaves and fennel fronds.
The taste is flavorsome and scrumptious.
Ingredients for Slow Roasted Citrus Salmon:
1(1½ pound) piece of Salmon
2 Lemon
1 Blood orange
1 Tangerines
4 sprigs Fresh thyme
¼ cup Parsley
¼ cup Fennel fronds
1 cup Olive oil
Salt
Black pepper
8. Blood Orange Loaf and Blood Orange Glaze
This Blood Orange Loaf and Blood Orange Glaze is not just absolutely delicious in every bite but stunning to look at too, and if you’re entering any baking competitions then I would definitely suggest using this recipe.
Picture perfect every time and a real “wow” for the audience.
The recipe bakes a soft and moist blood orange loaf cake with a sweet, buttery blood orange glaze drizzled over.
Decorate with rose petals or blood orange slices for color.
Ingredients for Blood Orange Loaf and Blood Orange Glaze:
FOR THE LOAF:
½ cup Butter
1 cup Granulated sugar
2 Large eggs
½ cup Milk
1½ cup All-purpose flour
1 tsp Baking powder
½ tsp Salt
Zest of 1 Blood orange
FOR THE GLAZE:
3 tbsp Blood orange juice
2 tbsp Butter
½ cup Icing sugar
9. Avocado and Tangerine Salad with Spicy Vinaigrette
This Avocado and Tangerine Salad with Spicy Vinaigrette is a perky orange and green salad and I firstly love the colors this salad portrays, almost more than anything.
Soft and creamy avocado paired with tangy, chewy tangerines, these two uniquely very different ingredients bought together bring a stunning, mouthwatering combination of flavors to open your senses.
Ingredients for Avocado and Tangerine Salad with Spicy Vinaigrette:
FOR THE VINAIGRETTE
½ cup Tangerine juice
1 Hot pepper
1 Shallots
2 tbsp White wine vinegar
Kosher Salt
Ground pepper
¼ cup Vegetable oil
2 tbsp Olive oil
FOR THE SALAD
2 Avocado
4 Tangerines
6 cups Arugula
½ cup Fresh mint
2 ounces Feta cheese
10. Mandarin Couscous Salad
I always make a Mandarin Couscous Salad to accompany our Christmas dinner.
It is fresh and full of flavor and makes use of mandarins – the symbolic Christmas fruit!
There was a time when an orange was an exotic fruit in Europe and people would receive them as a treat…
Ingredients for Mandarin Couscous Salad:
1 ⅓ cups Water
1 cup Couscous
1 can (11 oz) Mandarin
1 cup Frozen peas
½ cup Almonds
⅓ cup Red onion
3 tbsp Lemon juice
2 tbsp Olive oil
1 tbsp Sugar
¼ tsp Salt ¼ tsp Hot pepper sauce