February 2021 Indy Style: Valentine’s Day With MandaRosa + EverCrisp
Feb 05, 2021, Updated May 19, 2021
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Celebrate the sweetest people in your life with some fruity treats! This month we’ve brought some bright and cheery recipes to the Indy Style kitchen that are sure to chase away the winter blues and delight the people you hold dear. Watch our segments and check out our citrus- and apple-filled recipes below so you can have a delicious Valentine’s Day with us!
Indy Style Valentine’s Day with MandaRosa Oranges
We’re celebrating a really cool citrus fruit today: the MandaRosa! Brought to you by our partners at Pro Citrus Network, this is only the second year this beautiful ombre fruit has been on the market. A cross-pollination of Mandarin and blood oranges, this easy-peel, seedless citrus is the perfect snack for busy moms and their families.
To cut these oranges for easy snacking, start by cutting off both ends, or the “top” and the “tail,” of the orange. Next, lay your orange on one of its now-flat ends, then gently slice down between the skin and the flesh. Do this six times and you’ll have a hexagon of MandaRosa flesh without any bitter skin!
MandaRosa Tea
But don’t throw out those peels just yet – we have some ideas for using them! Wind down at night or energize in the morning while reducing kitchen waste with MandaRosa Green Tea with Ginger and Honey.
Add your MandaRosa peels to a mug or jar and pour over with hot water. Be careful if you use glass: if your water is too much hotter than the glass, it can crack! Next, peel your ginger root. Use a spoon instead of a knife to remove the skin. Trust us, it’s much more effective. Add a one-inch slice of ginger to your tea for the perfect flavor.
Get the full recipe for MandaRosa Tea here!
MandaRosa Ice Cream Bread
You’ll love this ice cream bread, and you’ll be amazed at how simple it is: it only uses three ingredients!
This recipe requires self-rising flour. All-purpose flour won’t do the trick here. But you can use any kind of ice cream you’d like! We used a pint of chocolate and another of cookies and cream to make our two loaves of ice cream bread. Mix it all together and add slices of MandaRosa oranges on top. Bake it for 30 to 40 minutes and your ice cream bread is ready to serve!
Ingredients:
- 1.5 cups self-rising flour
- 1 pint chocolate ice cream (or flavor of your choice)
- MandaRosa rounds for the top
Directions:
- Melt ice cream in its container.
- Add ice cream to the flour and mix thoroughly.
- Pour mixture into a bread pan lined with parchment paper and top with MandaRosa rounds.
- Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes.
Grilled Peanut Butter Apple Sandwiches
On today’s show, we highlighted the EverCrisp apple from our partners at Applewood Fresh. It’s a natural and naturally sweet crossbreed of Honeycrisp and Fuji varieties. This is a crunchy, juicy apple that you and your kids will love to snack on. We’re using it in our Grilled Peanut Butter Sandwich to add some crispy texture and sweet apple flavor.
After laying out your EverCrisp apple slices on your bread, sprinkle them with some MandaRosa juice to help stave off oxidation and add some citrus flavor. Next, lightly sprinkle it with some cinnamon and add peanut butter. Grill it for a crunchy lunch sandwich that’s bursting with flavor!
Get the full recipe for Grilled Peanut Butter Apple Sandwiches here!
Chicken Salad Apple Bowls
We love to innovate at The Produce Moms and we’ve brought that spirit to this Indy Style Valentine’s Day. We showed the studio another way to use EverCrisp apples that’s both delicious and helps cut down on food waste: Chicken Salad Apple Bowls!
To get started, cut the top off of the apple. Use a melon baller to hollow out the apple, leaving some flesh under the skin. Don’t throw out the apple pieces you just scooped out, though; instead, add them to a bowl of chicken salad. This brightens up the flavor of the salad and helps keep perfectly good food out of your trash can.
Once you’ve mixed the apple bits with the salad, scoop the salad mixture into the hollowed-out apples for a nutritious treat that’s both sweet and savory.
Want to have some more fun with EverCrisp Apples? Check out our eLearning activity for a fun Valentine’s Day scavenger hunt! Use it in Zoom lessons to give your kids a chance to get up from the computer for an interactive activity.
Dipped MandaRosa and EverCrisp Treats
What kind of Valentine’s Day would this be without heart-shaped fruit treats? Use a cookie cutter to cut some thin apple slices then dip them in allergen-free chocolate for a fruity treat anyone can enjoy. Pop open some sprinkles or other colorful decorations and let your kids decorate these treats themselves for a fun snacktivity.
Get more ideas for Apple Valentine Treats here!
Speaking of chocolate, is there anything that pairs quite as well as chocolate and oranges? We arranged chocolate-dipped MandaRosa segments on a tray to make a row of romantic citrus hearts. Serve them to your special someone this Valentine’s Day!
MandaRosa Salmon Sheet Pan Dinner
If you love MandaRosas as much as we do, you’ll want to use them everywhere! Add them to your roasting recipes like chicken or salmon for a burst of fresh citrus. Simply cut your MandaRosa in half and squeeze the juice onto the meat or fish before you put it in the oven. The heat from the cooking process will caramelize the MandaRosa and bring out even more incredible flavors.
We used this method in our MandaRosa Salmon Sheet Pan Dinner. Slice three MandaRosas in half and add them to the sheet pan along with salmon, fingerlings, and broccolini. This meal is easy to make, easy to clean, and only costs $5.00 per serving!
Ingredients:
- 4 4 oz. Salmon Filet
- 3 Mandarosa, cut open face
- Fingerling Potatoes, halved
- Broccolini
- Olive Oil
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees
- On a sheet pan, add ingredients
- Squeeze 1 MandaRosa over salmon and broccolini
- Add halved MandaRosa on a sheet pan to roast (4 halves)
- Drizzle with EVOO and season with salt and pepper
- Cook for 15 minutes
- Serve and enjoy!
Thanks for watching, and have a Lovely Indy Style Valentine’s Day!
