Inspiring Ingredient: Lemon

What would Mediterranean cuisine be without lemon? Regional flavors may be diverse and varied, but it’s hard to think of a country without a traditional dish that features this puckering, acidic fruit. There’s Greek avgolomeno soup, Moroccan tagines brimming with preserved lemons, Egyptian ful mudammas, and Lebanese fattoush salad. And, of course, there’s the region’s most famous mezze – hummus – a creamy combination of chickpea, tahini, lemon, and spices. Lemon is everywhere, making it the most tagged ingredient on M & D.

But lemon isn’t just about tradition. Some of our favorite lemon dishes on M & D are our dolce – bright lemon and herb popsicles and cakes, or beautiful little cookies of lemon and pistachio. And you can see from our queue of tempting lemon recipes, we’ve got more in store.

Lemon’s versatility gives it a permanent home in our kitchens, and we hope these recipes and tips encourage you to do the same.

Buying and Storing

Well, this is pretty simple. Lemons are easy to find at your local supermarket or farmers market – if yours doesn’t have any, you should probably start shopping somewhere else! Depending on their ripeness, they can last up to a couple of weeks in a fruit bowl or in the fridge. Some recipes (mostly desserts) call for Meyer lemons, a cross between a lemon and some form of orange (apparently disputed) that is both sweeter and less acidic than a traditional lemon.

We’d recommend that you buy a tool to make juicing a lemon quick and painless. You can either get a squeezer or a juicer, both under $10 and well worth the money (and the little bit of extra effort when you have the time for fresh lemon juice).

From the M & D Blog Reel:

We have too many lemon recipes on M & D to list all of them, but below are a few of our favorites. Click here for a more comprehensive list of our lemony recipes to try. And please let us know if you make one!

Mezze
Fava Bean Salad
Perfected Fattoush Salad
Herbed Chickpea Soup
Simple Tomato Gazpacho with Greek “Fries”
Tabbouleh

Dolce:
Limonana Popsicles
Lemon Poppyseed Bundtlettes
Lemon Thyme Cupcakes with Whipped Cream
Lemon Pistachio Cookies
Basil-Lemon Cake

In the M&D Test Kitchen Queue:

We always have lemon recipes in our tasting cue – here are some of the ones we’re most excited about:

Mezze:

Toasted Orzo with Olives and Lemons
Fresh Basil Pesto with Lemon
Summer Squash Carpaccio Salad
Roasted Lemon Chutney

Dolce:
Lemony Olive Oil Banana Bread
Pink Lemonade Bars
Lemon Cream Eclairs

What are your favorite lemon dishes? Let us know by commenting her or on the M & D Facebook page!