Every week from now on, I’ll be posting an ingredient of the week. Ingredient of the week posts will include some fun facts about the ingredient, what recipes to use it in and how to buy it plastic-free.

The ingredient of the week is… lemons!

A bowl of freshly picked lemons from my backyard.

Lemons are one of the staple ingredients in my kitchen. I always have them on hand. I’m very lucky to have a lemon tree in my backyard that provides a continuous stream of lemons all the time. Lemons can be found in almost every grocery store, but sometimes they’re in plastic mesh bags. Usually they can be found loose, so buy these instead. That way it’s easier to inspect them before buying them as well.

Lemons are a very versatile fruit. They can be used in many kinds of recipes, from lemon meringue pies to salad dressings. Lemons can be used in savory dishes and sweet dishes. Lemon juice can also be rubbed on cut surfaces of fruits such as lemons and avocados to prevent them from browning. Lemon slices can be used as garnishes as well. If your sink smells, throw a lemon peel down the drain. Turn on the garburator and run the water. Your sink will smell lemon fresh. (I don’t use my garburator very often since I compost all my food waste, but if my sink starts to smell bad I’ll put a lemon down the garburator.)

To get as much juice as possible, roll lemons on the counter before juicing them. The average lemon will yield about three tablespoons of juice.

Recipes on my blog that include lemons are lemon curd, tilapia meunière, hummus, cesar salad dressing and lentil cauliflower dal.