“We must do better!”

This is January’s sad lament and brave resolution.

A season of excess and pure, unchecked enjoyment of December’s riches has us reaching for ridiculous diets and sad, sad salads.

But what if doing better means something completely different? What if it means eating well — eating local, fresh, seasonal, real, whole and nourishing foods? What if that’s doing better?

As January ushers in cooler weather that feels akin to winter, it offers up home-grown gifts in the form of citrus – lemons, grapefruits, oranges and limes, many harvested in the area and all available at the neighborhood market. And as our year kicks off, citrus can be a friend and ally in our resolution to eat well.

Citrus is a staple for us blessed Floridians. We can zest lemons or oranges on ricotta, salads, pasta or pastry. We can squeeze citrus juice into water, tea, and marinades. We can pair oranges with chocolate, lemons with seafood, limes or sour oranges with poultry, grapefruit wedges with tossed greens. We can bake with citrus, grill with citrus, infuse with citrus.

For more ideas on what to do with January’s bounty, we turned to executive chef Darryl Moiles of the Four Seasons Palm Beach. Moiles awed us so during the Palm Beach Wine and Food Festival in early December that we were confident he would inspire us once again in our quest to lighten up through real food.

“The citrus really just is cleansing,” Moiles explained. “It makes your mouth feel a little cleaner. I personally use it in almost everything. I squeeze it on my salads, on my sauces, on my roasted chicken. I squeeze it on my steaks… it opens up the flavor.”

Moiles prepared three very different dishes using grapefruit, limes, lemons and oranges. He made a light, refreshing salad, a fresh Florida yellowtail snapper dish, and a more substantial lamb dish.

But even the lamb, which one might think of as a heavier winter dish, takes on a beautifully balanced character, thanks to the citrus. And it’s this kind of balanced, “real” food that keeps us from mindlessly snacking on empty foods at the end of the day.

“To have a little bit of lamb at the end of the day helps you feel like you’re filled up,” Moiles said.

When picking out the produce, Moiles suggests looking for citrus with some give to them, feeling squeezable to the touch. From there, “it’s all in moderation.”

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INDIAN RIVER GRAPEFRUIT AND GARDEN ARUGULA

Serves 4

4 cups arugula, washed in cold water

8 ounces Greek yogurt

1 tablespoon coriander seeds

2 Indian River grapefruit, segmented

4 ounces granola

8 red grapes, sliced

1 ounce olive oil

Salt and pepper, to taste

Make ahead:

Granola

½ cup old-fashioned oats

2 ounces coarsely chopped pecans

2 ounces unsweetened shredded coconut

1 tablespoon (packed) brown sugar

¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

¼ teaspoon ground ginger

Salt, to taste

2 ounces honey

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 300°F. Line rimmed baking sheet with parchment. Mix first 7 ingredients in large bowl. Stir honey and oil in saucepan over medium-low heat until smooth. Pour honey mixture over oat mixture; toss. Spread on prepared sheet. Bake until golden, stirring every 10 minutes, about 40 minutes. Place sheet on rack. Stir granola; cool.

For the salad:

Toast the coriander in a dry pan for 30 seconds on medium heat then grind in a spice grinder.

Segment all the grapefruit and reserve all juice from the rind. Slice the grapes. Toss the arugula with olive oil and juice from the grapefruit.

On a small plate add 2 ounces of yogurt and dust with toasted coriander, add 1 ounce of the granola followed by the grapes and grapefruit segment. Add one cup of the arugula, lightly season with salt and pepper and serve.

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YELLOWTAIL SNAPPER WITH CLAMS AND LEMON BROTH

Serves 4

8 ounces chanterelle mushrooms

4 cloves garlic

Olive oil

4 cipollini onions peeled

1 ounce rice vinegar

16 Sunray Venus clams or Manila clams

8 ounces vegetable stock

2 lemons

4 snapper fillets, 6 ounces each

Salt and pepper

Fresh herbs for garnish, (we used red vein sorrel from Swank Farm in Loxahatchee)

For the vegetable stock:

1 tablespoon olive oil

4 large onions, quartered

2 large carrots, quartered, with tops reserved

8 large garlic cloves, crushed

2 large leeks, washed, trimmed, with tough outer leaves removed

1 large sprig thyme

1 large sprig rosemary

1 bay leaf

6 whole black peppercorns

1 whole clove

3 quarts water

Preheat oven to 400°F. Make the vegetable stock. In a large bowl toss the oil with onions, carrots, garlic and leeks and arrange them in a roasting pan. Place the pan in oven and roast, stirring once, for 45 minutes or until golden brown and tender. In a large saucepan or stock pot combine the roasted vegetables with carrot tops, thyme, rosemary, bay leaf, peppercorns, clove and water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally for 1 hour or until the broth is reduced to about 8 cups. Strain.

Sauté the chanterelles with the garlic and cipollini onions for 5 minutes in oil. Add vinegar to deglaze.

Add the clams and 8 ounces of vegetable stock and the juice of the lemons, and cook until clams open all the way, approximately 2 minutes.

In a second pan on high heat, add oil and place the snapper skin side down until seared, turn over and cook for 7 minutes or until cooked through.

In the serving bowls place 2 ounces of chanterelles, garlic and onions, add the snapper on top and spoon the clams around the dish finish with adding the broth to the dishes and garnish with fresh herbs.

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RACK OF LAMB WITH FARRO, NAVEL ORANGE, KEY LIME AND PICKLED GINGER SAUCE

Serves 4

2 racks of lamb (have your butcher clean all the fat off)

Olive oil

Salt and pepper

1 ½ cup farro

2 red beets pickled and sliced, in quarters

2 ounces red wine

1 navel orange, segmented, with juice reserved for sauce

2 limes, segmented, with juice reserved for sauce

2 ounces pickled ginger, sliced thin

Basil and fresh mint, for garnish

For the roasted beets:

2 medium beets, cleaned, with 1-inch stem remaining

2 large shallots, peeled

2 sprigs rosemary

2 teaspoons olive oil

Preheat oven to 400°F. In a large bowl toss all of the ingredients. Place into a foil pouch and roast in the oven for 40 minutes.

For the pickling:

1 large red onion, sliced

1 cup tarragon wine vinegar

1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt

1/2 cups sugar

1 cup water

Remove the skin from the roasted beets and slice thinly. Arrange in 1-quart jars in alternating layers with the onion. In a small pot boil the rest of the ingredients and pour over the beets. Tightly lid the jars and place in the refrigerator for 3 to 7 days before serving.

For the farro:

4 cups water

10 ounces farro (about 1 1/2 cups)

2 teaspoons salt, plus more to taste

Combine the water and farro in a medium saucepan. Add 2 teaspoons of salt. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until the farro is tender, about 30 minutes. Drain well, and then transfer to a large bowl to cool.

For the lamb:

Preheat oven to 375°F. Preheat a cast iron skillet or sauté pan.

Oil and season lamb racks and place in pan to sear the outside all the way around. Once browned, place lamb in the oven and roast until the internal temperature reads 135°F, medium rare, (cook longer if desired). Remove and let rest.

In the pan deglaze with red wine and citrus juices; add pickled ginger and simmer for 30 seconds. Plate the cooked faro, top with sliced beets, cut lamb into single bone chops and arrange 4 on each plate. Pour sauce around the plate and garnish with citrus segments and fresh herbs.