Stuffed Kumquats

Citrus season may have passed its peak, but there's still some excellent citrus to be found. I'm so fortunate to have citrus trees in my backyard, and many of my friends and neighbors do, too. In March, I've got juice oranges (the last one came off the tree yesterday), super sweet satsuma oranges (long gone), and still have dozens of huge, tasty lemons. What I don't have, I can usually find - either through a friend or at my local farmer's market or grocery. Many thanks today to my friend Marie for passing along some of her backyard kumquats! They're delicious as is, just popping a whole one in my mouth, or in any number of dishes. Here's an appetizer, dessert, or snack dish that's easy to make and tasty to eat. It's inspired by Marie's old Sunset recipe and her tale of how she served a similar dish as an appetizer at a party, then watched them quickly disappear. Each one is the perfect size for a single bite.

Ingredients:

8 kumquats
1 Tbs low fat or fat free cream cheese
2 Tbs fat free Greek yogurt
1/2 tsp sugar
1 Tbs minced crystallized ginger
16 very small mint leaves (or minced mint leaves)

Directions:  Cut the kumquats in half, lengthwise. Remove inner seeds, pulp,and membranes, leaving only the skin. I found this easiest to accomplish with a fingernail, but I think a grapefruit spoon would work equally well. Mix the cream cheese, yogurt, sugar and crystallized ginger together in a small bowl. Spoon about 1 teaspoon into each of the kumquat halves. Top each kumquat with a small piece of mint.

Makes 16, serves 4 with 4 pieces each.

Stealthy Cooking Tip: Kumquats are small, and I mean tiny compared to their larger orange relatives. They're only about 1 inch long! They really can be eaten whole, my all time favorite way with them is to just pop them into my mouth. They have a tender peel, and that's the sweet part. The inside pulp and membranes are the sour part. Like oranges, kumquats are high in vitamin C. Because the peel is eaten, kumquats are also high in fiber.