12 Citrus Fruit Recipe Ideas to Improve Eyesight
Oranges, grapefruit, tangerines, and limes—citrus fruits are tasty and refreshing. You can always eat them raw or juice them. Or make some lemonade.
But why not try something new? You can use citrus fruits in recipes that are excellent for eye health. And quite delicious, too.
Today, we’re bringing you some of the best citrus fruit recipe ideas around to inspire you. First, though, let’s see why citrus fruits are so good for your eyes.
Citrus Fruits Benefits
Citrus fruits are not just colorful and tangy. They also come with plenty of eye health benefits, making them one of the best foods for eye health. Citrus fruits help preserve your vision and keep your peepers in tip-top condition.
They are a rich source of vitamin C, which is one of the essential vitamins for eye health. Vitamin C helps prevent the development of cataracts and macular degeneration.
Vitamin C for eyesight also acts as a UV filter, protecting your eye from the sun’s harmful rays (though you should still wear sunglasses). Plus, certain antioxidants in citrus fruits prevent inflammation and preserve night vision.
Citrus fruits like oranges benefit your cornea, too. They help form and maintain the collagen in your eye.
Citrus Fruits Recipes to Try
Adding citrus fruits to your diet doesn’t have to be boring. You can turn them into easy and yummy shakes, puddings, salads, and more.
Take a look at these sweet and savory recipes to reap the many citrus fruits benefits.
1. Lemony Green Beans
Some lemons, fresh beans, garlic cloves, shallots, and olive oil. These are all the ingredients you’ll need for this recipe.
Blanch the beans until just crisp-tender. Drain the pot. Next, pour some oil into it. Add garlic, shallots, salt, and pepper. Sauté until fragrant.
Finally, squeeze some lemon juice and stir well. Vitamin C in lemon will keep your vision healthy and sharp. As a last touch, sprinkle your dish with lemon zest, too!
2. Orange-Vanilla Shake
Bring a citrusy zest to your vanilla shake. You will need two oranges, half a cup of milk, and one teaspoon of pure vanilla extract.
Peel the oranges and remove any seeds. Put them in a blender, along with milk, vanilla, and ice, if needed.
Purée until smooth and frothy. Then pour into a glass and enjoy.
3. Chicken Braised in Lime
This is a protein-rich recipe with a punch of citrus you are sure to relish. Season the chicken with salt, pepper, and other seasonings.
Let it sit for some time while you heat one tablespoon of olive oil in a large pan. Sear the chicken until it turns crisp and golden.
Add garlic, chili, chicken stock, and lime juice. Perhaps a spoonful of honey if you like? Garnish with lime slices.
Find the detailed recipe here.
4. Grapefruit Bars
Grapefruit benefits your vision each time you eat it. Its high vitamin C content makes it a top fruit for eye health. And it’s super tasty, too, if you make it into tangy and sweet bars with a shortbread crust and citrus curd.
First, prepare the shortbread. Mix flour, sugar, butter, vanilla, and salt in a bowl. Bake the mix. Then prepare the filling. Whisk eggs, sugar, flour, and salt. Add grapefruit juice and stir well.
Pour the grapefruit filling into the shortbread and bake together. Dust with powdered sugar and your grapefruit bars are ready!
Check out the full recipe here.
5. Thai Pomelo Salad
This summer salad is a blend of sweet, sour, and salty flavors. Peel a pomelo, dice some tomatoes, slice two scallions, and chop some cilantro. Toss these ingredients together.
For the dressing, mix brown sugar, rice vinegar, fish sauce, lime juice, grated garlic, chili flakes, and roasted peanuts.
Pour the mix over the salad and relish the citrusy flavors.
6. Clementine Salsa
Bored of regular salsa? Try the clementine version! It will add a zesty twist to your tacos, nachos, tortilla chips, or baked potatoes.
Blend your typical salsa ingredients: tomatoes, onions, cilantro, and lime. Once done, add clementine. This will give the salsa a tangier, sweeter taste.
7. Key Lime Pie
Vitamin C and eyesight go hand in hand. So, reap its full benefits and make some tart, sweet, and incredibly easy key lime pies.
You’ll only need graham crackers, sweetened condensed milk, sour cream, and key lime juice to get started.
First, prepare the graham cracker crust. Next, mix condensed milk, sour cream, and lime juice in a bowl. Pour the mix into the crust and bake for 5 minutes. Chill the pie before serving.
8. Pasta al Limone
Fresh lemons, garlic, parsley, parmesan, pasta, and olive oil. All the ingredients you need to make lemon pasta.
Pour some oil into a pan. Add garlic, parsley, and lemon juice to it. Stir them and add boiled pasta. Bring them to a simmer.
Garnish with some parmesan and serve your delicious pasta al limone hot. This easy-to-make dish is packed with flavor and many lemon benefits for your eyes, including a healthy dose of vitamin C.
9. Candied Citron
Looking for some more Vitamin C vision-enriching recipes? Try out candied citron. You can use it to add a mild floral note to fruitcakes, sweetbreads, and other confections.
Simply blanch the citron in water, boil it in sugar syrup, and dry it. You can also try making candied orange slices, lemon rind, and clementine peel the same way.
10. Blood Orange Pudding
Now here’s a tasty, healthy, and citrusy dessert that packs all the Vitamin C eyesight benefits.
This blood orange pudding is easy to make. Whisk yogurt, blood orange juice, salt, and 2 tablespoons of honey in a bowl.
Add chia seeds to the mix and chill it for at least 8 hours. Once ready, garnish with diced blood oranges, pistachios, and honey.
11. Citrus Salmon
Is salmon often on your menu? You should try citrus salmon.
Drizzle the salmon with olive oil, slow-roast it in the oven with orange and lemon slices, and season it with dried oregano, mint, salt and pepper, and a few cloves of minced garlic.
You can make this mouth-watering recipe in just half an hour! Follow the full recipe here.
12. Tangerine Cooler
Finally, how about a refreshing citrus drink? You can make this tangerine cooler in a few easy steps.
Put tangerine juice, sugar syrup, thyme and mint leaves, and salt in a shaker filled with ice. Shake vigorously, and then strain over a glass. Garnish with mint leaves, and your tart and tasty tangerine cooler is ready!
We hope you enjoy making these citrus dishes, tangy desserts, and refreshing drinks. Loaded with Vitamin C for the eyes, they are as healthy as they are delicious. Go ahead and try at least some of them!