Crystal Valley Blog

Mouth-Watering Citrus for Summer!

POSTED June 23, 2020

It’s officially summer in Colorado and in the master-planned community of Crystal Valley the Farmer’s Market is open for business. Head down, over and up to 414 Wilcox Street and take full advantage of local growers’ fruits and veggies, not to mention specialty gifts and treats. This week we’re focusing on recipes for our favorite citrus fruit – to make all these delicious sweets, sauces and main dishes – perfect for the almost tropical weather in our zip code!

Orange You Hungry for Oranges? 

Two things come to mind when oranges are mentioned for recipes: Orange Chicken and Creamcicles. We found both at blogger Christina’s The Whole Cook site – plus 28 more recipes for this category of citrus – orange you glad?  

This Orange Chicken from A Fork’s Tale, takes just 15 minutes to make in an Instant Pot, and it’s the perfect blend of sweet and savory. You can serve it with a side of broccoli – or not – and with coconut rice, brown rice, or cauliflower rice. The orange sauce is made with marmalade and barbecue sauce, AND, received a rating of 4.83 (out of 5) stars from 40 home chefs. 

For homemade Creamcicles, head to My Kitchen Love, and pull out four ingredients and your blender: peeled oranges, vanilla extract, Greek yogurt and honey. The mixing part only takes five minutes – but you’ll have to wait six hours for the cicles to freeze – preferably overnight. 

For major savory flavor, scroll through the orange recipes to the Roasted Chicken with All Spice and Citrus and Mimosa Poached Salmon. You’ll also find plenty of dessert recipes to try, from Orange Cardamom Chocolate Ice Cream, to Dark Chocolate Covered Dates Stuffed with Orange-Coconut Cream.

You’ll find more sweet and savory at Martha Stewart – from the Root Vegetable Soup with Ginger and Oranges, Orange and Honey Baked Pork Chops, Brussel Sprouts with Orange and Bacon, and Orange Pound Cake. 

At Taste of Home you’ll find 90 (yes, 90!) recipes using orange slices, orange juice and, orange zest for just about anything your orange-loving heart desires – drinks, desserts, dinners and more. 

Pucker Up for Lemons!

What could be easier than Lemon Chicken with a little Campbell’s Cream of Chicken Soup? We’ll answer that. Not much! It’s easy, fast and tasty – all the things we like in a midweek meal!

From Meyer lemon marmalade to herb-and-lemon poached baby artichokes, the folks at Food and Wine put together 25 recipes for those yellow citrusy mounds of fruit. Take a look at the Seared Cod with Lemon Aioli (which is also great on roasted potatoes), or the Avgolemono, a classic Greek concoction of chicken broth, egg yolks, lemon juice, rice and shredded chicken. Maybe because it’s almost dinnertime, the Spicy Lemon-Rosemary Pork Tenderloin looks like a salivating home run, as does the Lemon Risotto with Basil. We’ll take two, servings that is!

More Than Key Lime Pie

While there’s more to make from limes than Key Lime Pie, we can’t really ignore the fact that it’s a pretty sweet treat and for lots of people, a family-favorite. If you want the BEST Key Lime Pie recipe ever, Trish at Mom on Timeout has bragging rights to this world-class recipe. The graham cracker crust is filled to the brim with an incredibly tasty, creamy filling and after 10 minutes in the oven – you’re ready to chill and eat yourself – or serve to guests!

Real House Moms Lime Sugar Cookies have all the usual suspects, butter, sugar, vanilla, and the dry ingredients of baking soda and powder, salt and flour, but Aubry adds 2 teaspoons of lime juice and a little lime zest. Betcha can’t eat just one of these!

Lime Curd tastes a lot better than it sounds and maybe a better name for it would be Lime custard. After all the recipe does have three eggs in it! To the eggs you’d add lime juice, sugar, butter and lime zest. Dorothy at Crazy for Crust eats hers with a spoon right out of the airtight refrigerated container. It’s THAT good.

For more lime desserts than you can shake a zester at, check out Taste of Home’s collection of 21 recipes from cookies and pies, to cakes and fondue, we’ve got you covered in the sweet and tangy lime department!

A Spectacular Crystal Valley Summer

Welcome to the amazing – NOW OPEN – amenities in the master-planned community of Crystal Valley. There’s never been a better time to buy a new home set in natural surroundings in this fast-growing Castle Rock community. Floor plans and elevations vary from Richmond American Homes, Kauffman Homes, Century Communities and D.R. Horton. But you can visit all the models to give you the look and feel of these new homes — or tour virtually – your choice. And the floor plan choices are just beginning — with multiple ranch and two-story designs — priced from the $300s. 

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Our community enjoys a year-round schedule of events and activities. Register to receive the latest progress and news of upcoming events at Crystal Valley.

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