‘It’s official. You are obsessed with limes. Get on with the lime and lemon grass cordial’
Limes.
Zip. Zing. Zest.
Great with sweet – mangoes, ripe plantains, pawpaw, perfect with spice, like cardamom; herbs like mint and tang, like yogurt.
Pushed and prodded by Miss Wana Wana on Instagram, I decided to share my favourite ways to make them bed and mouth fellow.
But first, a few tips on prepping, storing and using them.
How to Prepare Limes
- Zest for toppings and to include in recipes
- Cut slices, cheeks and wedges to garnish and to serve with meals and drinks
How to Store Limes
Limes are best refrigerated, where they last 3 or 4 times longer than in the pantry.
Unrefrigerated, I find my limes stay a week before the skin turns brown, or hard, or goes bad altogether.
Refrigerated, I’ve had some last a month.
And finally, 30 things + to do with limes
Breakfast ideas
- Make lime curd, even mango and lime curd
- Squeeze over a dollop of yogurt, on a bed of sliced bananas. Or any fruit for that matter. The yogurt is an excellent ferry for the clean, refreshing flavours of lime – absorbing any bitterness and letting its essence shine through
- Pawpaw and lime. No yogurt needed. *Doffs hat*
Drinks
- Put slices in your water. As Natural Nigerian testifies.
- Give your hibiscus infusion/ Zobo life with limes
- Make limeade. Spruce it up and call it your Pink Spring Blush – Rhubarb and Lime.
- Liven up your Chapman cocktail with juice and wedge
- Coconut water. It transforms coconut water. Yes, the transparent, slightly cloudy water in the belly of the brown nut. It marries well. Add a touch of sweetener if you like and a slice of cucumber for cool, refreshing tropical heaven
- Add to sugarcane juice
7. Make a cordial with lemons, lemongrass and lime
8. Great in some teas and infusions – both juice and zest
9. Lovely in smoothies – green, orange…whatever tickles your fancy (attr. Ms Wana Wana)
Preserves and Pickles
- Sugar-preserved limes. Shortcut to candied fruit
- To pickle onions. Red onions become beautiful, magenta-purple slices of beauty and deliciousness
- Make Lime Marmalade. If you succeed. Please let me know. For, I didn’t.
Marinades and Sauces
- A ginger, lime and soy marinade for some fish with a bit of fish sauce and sesame oil, lime (attr. Ms Wana Wana)
- Lime with some honey, mustard and a bit of Japanese rice wine vinegar for a green bean and pea salad. (attr. Ms Wana Wana)
- Green Thai curry (attr. Ms Wana Wana)
- Zest, To replace keffir lime leaves. In Curries. Sambals. Dips.
Sides
- Ceviche. The acids in lime work well to ‘cure‘ seafood and render them edible
- Papaya Salad , where the clean, refreshing flavours lifts the entire dish
- Mango Salsa. No words needed. Guac too. Corn salsa
- As a dressing in a ‘coleslaw’ mix of carrots, cabbage and other salads. with sweet elements.
- With coconut. In a ‘cooked’ cassava salad
Desserts
- Make a quick, rich Lime ice cream
- With mangoes. And cardamom. With mint. For tropical flavours.
- Wedges. To squeeze over creamy desserts. Like Blackberry Cheescake verrines. The best thing I ever made. The thing that gave the trophy to limes. Before I got to know Meyers anyway.
4. To ‘finish’ off desserts like Bread Pudding, like yogurt pots
5. Gently folded into whipped cream, to top things like the most-delicious Coconut Tres Leches cake. Ever.
Other Interesting Uses
- Scratch and sniff and get transported to lands far, far away
- Clean your sink/counter with ‘used’ limes
- Great with Suya
- Nice, dried and ground to make finishing salts
- Combining with honey to make a cough remedy (@sh0made)
- Great for cleaning snails
There you have it, a few of my favourite ways to use limes.
What are yours? Please share, I’d love to try new recipes with them.
Stay well.
XXX
About the Author: Ozoz Sokoh is Nigerian-born, Liverpool-schooled (in part) and now living and working in Nigeria. For more information and posts visit: http://www.kitchenbutterfly.com/ –
