Nurturing my inner... good and juicy

This is my chance to redeem myself.  (Please nod in acceptance.)  I may give in to the occasional ice cream binge, (who has the strength to resist salted caramel after all!), but I have a redemptive and self-controlled side too.  Usually that smart side prevails over the other... statistically speaking.  With something as tasty as the Cara Cara navel orange from California, also called the Power Orange!, the smarter choice isn't hard to make.

I never heard of this type of orange until a few weeks ago when I got my first organic box delivery.  I didn't dive into them right away, because I just figured they were regular oranges.  The outside looked like any other thin-skinned citrus fruit.  Well, boy, was I missing out by making foolish assumptions.  They are so far from ordinary!  Available from December through April.  Check your local stores to see if you can find them.  Your running around will be worth it.

Cara Cara oranges are pink.  Like grapefruit.  That surprised me when I sliced the fruit open.

Well look at that. I had no clue.

Let me tell you, they are deliciously sweet, extra juicy and seedless.  To boot, they are refreshing and bright in flavor.  Plus, yet another extra bonus, they are naturally lower in acid.  Slightly easier on the tum tum.

Sliced it up.

Straight out of the fridge, it was vitamin C-packed nectar on a hot day.  Not that it was hot here, but I happened to be particularly thirsty this afternoon.  So it was super, extra tasty.

That color is just craziness!

So get this funky fact, since the oranges have no seeds, they are considered sterile.  In order to cultivate them, they have to graft them on to other varieties of citrus.  (What does that mean, you wonder, as you left your tin foil science cap at home?)  That means that the genetic makeup of the oranges is exactly the same as the original Cara Cara orange tree first grown in 1820!  (So says the Sunkist site.)  Not only is it NOT a genetically modified food, you can eat a true piece of history.

Now, I'm so bad, giving you cool info and such, that I'm good!  Right?  I knew I could restore your faith in the mostly nutritious, whole foods focused me.  At least, I hope I have.  Gotta go put in my order for my next organic box delivery for this coming Wednesday.  I hope they have more Cara Cara oranges!  Please, oh, pleeeeeeezzz!  But I'm willing to take any great surprise they've got.