Anyone else on a healthy eating kick?  I don’t like to think of it as a diet- but in the end, I guess that’s what I am doing.  Admittedly, my pants are tight-all those darn cookies got me 🙂.  So, like many others across the country, I am back on the wagon again.  Exercising more, eating healthier, drinking less frequently and waiting for my pants to loosen up!

Over the holidays I took a trip to Alabama to see my In-laws, and happily returned with a large bag of lemons from their tree.  Faced with a busy start to the year at work and fearing the lemons might end up in the garbage, I have decided to preserve them.  Preserved lemons are a popular condiment in Indian cuisine but can be used in endless dishes- stews, spreads, as condiments to fish and chicken, even in Bloody Mary’s!  They are wonderful to have in your refrigerator when you are faced with another night of vegetables for dinner.  As long as our dinners aren’t boring and bland I can eat healthy every night!

Backyard Alabama Lemons

My husband brought this recipe home a few years ago and it never fails!  They do take six weeks to prepare so get started early- by the time you get sick of the same salad you’ve been eating every week they will be ready.  

Sir Duke likes some zest to his kibble too!

 Ingredients

• 10 Lemons, wedged and seeds removed
• 1 cup kosher salt
• 1 cup olive oil
• 3 cinnamon sticks, broken
• 1 tbsp whole cardamom
  

  Lemon Wedges

   

Preserved Lemon Mise en Place

Method

Place lemon wedges in a plastic container and sprinkle kosher salt evenly over wedges.  Pour olive oil into container and mix well.  Add cinnamon and cardamom and toss together.  Cover the lemons with a piece of parchment paper and place a second container on top to weigh it down. 

Week One of Preserving Lemons

Refrigerate for 6 weeks, stirring once a week.  After 6 weeks, lemons will be preserved and ready to use.  Cut lemon wedges into small pieces and use with fish, chicken, vegetables, flat breads, stews, ect. 

Use cans, jars, or anything else to apply some weight!

Yield is about a gallon or 20 servings.

Preserved Lemons- Week One

I’ll check back in a few weeks with a glimpse of the lemon preservation progress, until then, get yours going too!  Perhaps Bloody Mary’s at Easter brunch?