If you’re anything like me and my family with our Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s celebrations, a diet is a sure thing for the new year.

Happily, grapefruit will help you with that naturally. The grapefruit diet is apparently not a myth like some people think – according to a recent 12-week study, participants who ate half a grapefruit with each meal lost an average of 3.6 pounds and those who drank grapefruit juice three times a day lost 3.3 pounds, with some losing up to 10 pounds.

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Though I grew up in Bergen County, and we had our family produce store in Bergenfield for years, I remember the first house my father bought in Florida in the late 1950s. Traveling down there after Christmas that first time, my brother and I were so amazed to see grapefruit hanging from a tree in the backyard; we Jersey boys had never seen anything like that before. The house was an old one but the yard was full of beautiful citrus trees, and for the time we were there we enjoyed picking and eating grapefruit and oranges right off the trees.

Though we grow no citrus of our own in the New Jersey/New York region, residents of our area are huge consumers of items like oranges and grapefruit, and what better way to beat the colds and flu that are abundant this season than with the immune-boosting vitamin C present in grapefruit? Loaded with flavor and bursting with sweetness, grapefruit is definitely among my favorite picks during the winter months.

Origins and Varieties

Experts believe that the name “grapefruit” originally came from the way grapefruit grows – in clusters just like grapes, with up to as many as twenty-five fruits in a cluster hanging from a tree. While grown in many parts of the world, the U.S. is the main producer and consumer of grapefruit, with Florida currently producing nearly 70 percent of the domestic crop, followed by Texas (a distant second) and California.

In Florida, grapefruit are grown in two distinct geographic areas – Central Florida and the Indian River area on the state’s east coast, where the soil and climate offer ideal growing conditions. Specifically, the Indian River valley runs parallel to the Gulf Stream, and the warm ocean current shields the groves from temperature changes and spares them from frost even when groves much farther south are damaged. Compared to grapefruit from California, Florida grapefruits have a thinner rind and are sweeter and less pulpy.

Grapefruit with a clear yellow rind are called “goldens,” while those with some bronzing are “bronzes” and those with heavy bronzing are called “russets.” Flesh color runs from yellow-white to pink to nearly red. But while their colors vary, there’s not much difference in their flavor and juiciness – those qualities are determined by the lateness of the season, the specific variety and how the fruit has been handled.

Duncans and Orchids – old top-of-the-line varieties – are juicy, sweet and excellent for segmenting and juicing. Duncans are now grown only in limited supplies and are sold to canneries and processors, but a descendant of the Duncan, the Marsh Seedless, has taken its place. While not as juicy as the Duncan, it has a fine flavor and texture.

From the Marsh Seedless, hybridizers have developed a pink Marsh, and from that a darker pink strain called the Ruby Red, a very good grapefruit now primarily grown in Texas. The large Marsh Rubies from Florida are now called Star Rubies, and they’re probably the sweetest of all and great for segmenting, juicing, or eating with a spoon. Red grapefruit has 25 times more vitamin A than Golden, but otherwise they’re almost equivalent nutritionally.

Season

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Grapefruit are available year round, but the best fruit, hailing from Florida and Texas, are found between November and June, with the peak starting around Christmas and continuing through April. Small early golden and pink grapefruit are the first to show up on the market in October. They’re very juicy, but not as sweet as they are later in the season. Don’t be afraid to buy a small grapefruit, though. Even in the fall, they make good juice, and as the season progresses into winter and early spring, the smaller varieties get sweeter even as they maintain their high juice content. Whether they’re large or small, the Florida and Texas crops improve in quality from October to December and are at their sweetest and juiciest in late winter and early spring.

Selection and Storage

Look for smooth, thin-skinned fruit that’s either round or slightly flattened at each end. As with other citrus fruits, grapefruit should be firm, shiny and heavy in the hand for their size, as this promises the most juice and flavor. Avoid coarse or rough-looking fruit that has a puffy or protruding end, which indicates that it’s dry and flavorless. Leave grapefruit out on the counter if you’re going to consume it in less than a week, or else refrigerate for longer storage.

Preparation

Grapefruit are great on their own or served broiled with a little brown or white sugar and a dot of butter. Or serve peeled and sectioned grapefruit in a salad of mixed mild and bitter greens with a light dressing, as offered in the following recipe, which is a longtime favorite in our household.

PETE’S PERFECT GRAPEFRUIT SALAD

Makes 6 servings

INGREDIENTS:

2 roasted red peppers

3 pink grapefruit

1/2 small red onion

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3 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 tablespoon lime juice

1 tablespoon grapefruit juice

1/8 teaspoon salt

3 drops Tabasco sauce

6 cups mixed lettuce (bibb, red leaf, radicchio, and romaine)

18 black olives

Freshly ground pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:

• Cut the peppers into wide strips. Section the grapefruit, slice the onion very thin, and place the peppers, grapefruit sections, and onions into a large bowl.
• In another bowl, whisk the olive oil, citrus juice, salt and Tabasco and pour over the grapefruit mix.
• Let the mixture stand for 2 hours, then add to the lettuce, toss and garnish with olives and black pepper. Enjoy!

New Jersey’s own “Produce Pete” Napolitano is a vegetable expert, author and TV personality. For more information, visit www.producepete.com.

Susan Bloom contributed to this article.

Source: https://t-tees.com
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