Picture supplied from the Internet...thank you
I just love to have a supply of lemons & limes on hand in my kitchen. Aren't they the most delicious of fruits to enhance almost any recipe & to include in our diet. Whether we enjoy Raw Food or Cooked, I imagine that lemon & limes are on every weekly grocery list as the juice or zest thereof are included in so many meals. I use them almost everyday in some form or other, perhaps even as a simple basic dressing with a healthy oil, garlic & salt & pepper added to the juice or as a marinade to soften raw veggies like kale, cabbage or broccoli.
Although lemons & limes may not be what we would choose for an afternoon snack, they are powerhouses when we want to bring out the flavour of other foods, both sweet & savory. They "brighten" a recipe making it a magical addition & often help balance out the sweeteners, as well as having antioxidant properties & Vitamin C for wellbeing. I think many of us can remember making a delicious refreshing lemon or limade with our mother as a child & we often see lemon or lime juice added to a cocktail or a drink we might enjoy whilst watching the sun go down in the West! If you are using the zest as well as the juice to add even more lemony/limey flavour, remember that conventionally grown fruit will probably have pesticide on the skin, so an organic fruit would be more desirable when using the zest; the white pith under the skin is bitter so avoid this in the recipe.
Always select fruits that are rather thin skinned, those with thicker peels have less flesh & are therefore less juicy. Choose lemons & limes that are heavy for their size with peel that has a finely grained texture, both keep well in the refrigerator for some weeks. The juice freezes well Possibly the sweetest lemon is the Meyer lemon; most varieties are tart, acidic & astringent, but are also surprisingly refreshing.
If I am wanting to juice them, I like to have them on the bench top for some hours to warm up; they produce more juice when warmer, so use at room temperature or place for a few minutes in warm water. Rolling them under the palm of your hand on a flat surface also extracts more juice.
Throughout the eons, lemons have been used for a myriad of non culinary purposes as well. The juice can be added to household cleaning recipes, it is a bleaching agent & has a multitude of other uses even dating back to the days of witchcraft!
One of my favourite deserts is a lemon or lime tart......Key Lime Pie is a well known popular choice, but here is another Raw, but simple recipe, you might like to try.
For the Base.
Mix together 1 cup of walnuts with 4 dates, a pinch of salt & a tea of vanilla & press into a spring pan
Blend the following well until smooth & pour into the base.
1 cup soaked cashews or macadamias
1/8 cup water ( can use more citrus juice instead of the water if desired)
1/4 cup of your chosen sweetener ( agave, maple or rice syrup)
1 heaped teaspoon coconut oil
A few good squirts of lemon or lime juice with the zest, keeping the mix still reasonably thick
Refrigerate for an hour, top with a sprig of mint & more zest if desired, before serving with coconut cream. Some like to top with a couple of blueberries or a small lemon or lime wedge. ENJOY!
I just love to have a supply of lemons & limes on hand in my kitchen. Aren't they the most delicious of fruits to enhance almost any recipe & to include in our diet. Whether we enjoy Raw Food or Cooked, I imagine that lemon & limes are on every weekly grocery list as the juice or zest thereof are included in so many meals. I use them almost everyday in some form or other, perhaps even as a simple basic dressing with a healthy oil, garlic & salt & pepper added to the juice or as a marinade to soften raw veggies like kale, cabbage or broccoli.
Although lemons & limes may not be what we would choose for an afternoon snack, they are powerhouses when we want to bring out the flavour of other foods, both sweet & savory. They "brighten" a recipe making it a magical addition & often help balance out the sweeteners, as well as having antioxidant properties & Vitamin C for wellbeing. I think many of us can remember making a delicious refreshing lemon or limade with our mother as a child & we often see lemon or lime juice added to a cocktail or a drink we might enjoy whilst watching the sun go down in the West! If you are using the zest as well as the juice to add even more lemony/limey flavour, remember that conventionally grown fruit will probably have pesticide on the skin, so an organic fruit would be more desirable when using the zest; the white pith under the skin is bitter so avoid this in the recipe.
Always select fruits that are rather thin skinned, those with thicker peels have less flesh & are therefore less juicy. Choose lemons & limes that are heavy for their size with peel that has a finely grained texture, both keep well in the refrigerator for some weeks. The juice freezes well Possibly the sweetest lemon is the Meyer lemon; most varieties are tart, acidic & astringent, but are also surprisingly refreshing.
If I am wanting to juice them, I like to have them on the bench top for some hours to warm up; they produce more juice when warmer, so use at room temperature or place for a few minutes in warm water. Rolling them under the palm of your hand on a flat surface also extracts more juice.
Throughout the eons, lemons have been used for a myriad of non culinary purposes as well. The juice can be added to household cleaning recipes, it is a bleaching agent & has a multitude of other uses even dating back to the days of witchcraft!
One of my favourite deserts is a lemon or lime tart......Key Lime Pie is a well known popular choice, but here is another Raw, but simple recipe, you might like to try.
For the Base.
Mix together 1 cup of walnuts with 4 dates, a pinch of salt & a tea of vanilla & press into a spring pan
Blend the following well until smooth & pour into the base.
1 cup soaked cashews or macadamias
1/8 cup water ( can use more citrus juice instead of the water if desired)
1/4 cup of your chosen sweetener ( agave, maple or rice syrup)
1 heaped teaspoon coconut oil
A few good squirts of lemon or lime juice with the zest, keeping the mix still reasonably thick
Refrigerate for an hour, top with a sprig of mint & more zest if desired, before serving with coconut cream. Some like to top with a couple of blueberries or a small lemon or lime wedge. ENJOY!
