December 7, 2020

Kids Club: VOLUME 25chopchopfamily.org/kidsclub/kids-club-volume-25

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 thezest to flavor cooking oil, and even making holiday gifts from them. Plus, we’re peeling andeating them just like that, too. Because we love oranges.

Happy holidays to all of you from all of us.

RECIPE

Winter Salad

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Winter Salad with Orange Vinaigrette

We call this a “winter salad” because it uses cabbage, a cold-season vegetable, and citrus,which is grown during the winter months.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 30 minsTotal Time 40 mins

Servings 4 Servings

kitchen gear

Cutting boardSharp knife (adult needed)Measuring cupMeasuring spoonsClean jar with tight-fitting lidMedium-sized bowlSalad servers or tongsBox grater (adult needed)

Ingredients

For the Orange Vinaigrette:2 tablespoons orange juice2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice or vinegar1⁄4 cup olive oil1 teaspoon kosher saltpinch black pepperFor the salad:1 head romaine lettuce, washed and chopped1⁄4 head red cabbage, cored and shredded1 orange, peeled and pulled apart into sections1⁄2 cup toasted green pumpkin seeds (or another toasted seed or nut)

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1⁄4 cup grated cheddar cheese or crumbled feta cheese

Instructions

Make the Orange Vinaigrette: Put all the vinaigrette ingredients in the jar, screw thelid on tightly, and shake until well mixed.Make the Salad: Put all the salad ingredients in the bowl, add half the vinaigrette, andtoss well. Taste a piece of lettuce. Does it need more dressing? If so, add it and tossagain.Serve right away. Leftover dressing can be refrigerated for up to 1 week.

Notes

GET CREATIVE To make the vinaigrette even more orangey, grate a little of the orangezest into it before you juice the orange!

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 howto 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 ofyour hand. While you press, roll it back and forth a couple of times. This squishes theinside 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 wereEarth) into two halves.

3. Working with one half at a time, hold the fruit over a bowl and stick a fork into the cutside. Squeeze the fruit and wiggle the fork back and forth to extract the juice. Squeeze hardto get every last drop! Then do the other half.

KITCHEN SCIENCE

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The Flavors of an Orange

When it comes to cooking, oranges have so much to offer. The juice lends a sweet-tart joltof puckery deliciousness, while the grated zest adds the strong and fragrant flavor of thefruit. 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 dryit.

2. Begin with the zest—the colored part of the peel. Use a vegetable peeler (or yourthumbnail) to sliver off a strip. Now pinch it and smell it. How does it smell? Nibble a littlebite of it. How does it taste?

3. Now cut the orange open (ask an adult for help) and squeeze some of its juice into aglass. Smell the juice. Does it smell like the zest? How or how not? Take a sip. What does ittaste like? Is it sweet? Sour? Bitter? A combination?

4. Which part tastes more orangey to you?

According to Guinness World Records, the largest orange wasgrown in Fresno, California, in 2006, and measured 25 inchesaround its widest point—about the same size as an inflated partyballoon!

WHERE IN THE WORLD

MandarinOranges

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Mandarin oranges are displayed and given as gifts during the two-week celebration ofChinese 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 flavorcombination 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 believein.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 topoke holes in an orange, then stick a whole clove into each hole. You can stick cloves allover the whole orange, if you have the patience, or you can make a pattern or the shape of aletter. Whatever you decide, use plenty of cloves, since they help preserve the orange and

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keep it from rotting. Dust the orange with a sprinkle of cinnamon, then put it in a paper bagin a cool, dry place for a couple of weeks until it’s dried out a bit. Tie a ribbon around it andgive 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 preventscurvy, a disease caused by lack of vitamin C.

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