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10 great reasons to keep lemons around the kitchen
Lemons are used in sweets, and savory dishes, too. They can be squeezed into tea or on top of soups, not to mention the health benefits they provide. They are great for when you have the flu, they whet the appetite, enhance your beauty, cleanse the skin and much, much more…
1- Flavor enhancers: Lemons are a popular citrus fruit with a strong flavor all their own. Lemons carry a unique and pungent aroma in their rind. You can use lemon rind as a garnish, cut into long delicate strips or tiny pieces. All you need to do to add a lemony zing to your food is to grate in some lemon rind or chop the rind into tiny pieces with a sharp knife. Stay away from the white pith of the lemon; this is much more bitter than the rind itself.
2- Make some gremolata: Gremolata is a popular Italian condiment used on meat and fish dishes. If you love the taste of garlic and citrus fruits, you can use gremolata in place of plain salt and pepper. In order to make gremolata, just mix together equal amounts of lemon, garlic and parsley, then add a few drops of olive oil to give it a smoother flavor.
3- Boiling eggs: Brush eggshells with lemon juice before boiling to ensure the shells won’t crack. And if you add a teaspoon of lemon juice to boiling water while your eggs are cooking, they will peel more easily. Try lemon juice with your potatoes and your cauliflower, too!
4- Give life back to withered salad greens: Sometimes there’s nothing as unappetizing as wilted salad. But lemon juice can prevent this situation. To bring greens back to life, just place them in a bowl of cold water and squeeze half a lemon onto them. Place the bowl in your fridge for half an hour, and then remove the greens and dry them.
5- Keep fruits fresh: Lemons are great at preventing sliced fruit from turning brown. Squeezing some lemon juice on freshly cut fruit will allow the fruit to keep its color and freshness. In fact, this will work for quite a few hours, and you can try it with vegetables, too. Many people believe that lemons deepen the flavor of certain foods.
6- Boost flavor without adding salt: Squeezing lemon juice onto your food reduces the need for salt. And don’t forget that salt increases blood pressure and all the problems that can come with it. Try replacing some of the salt you use on your food with lemon, even on chicken, meat and vegetables.
7- Anti-cancer factor: Drinking black or green tea with lemon peel in it has been demonstrated to cause an up to 70 percent reduction in the likelihood of developing certain types of cancer. Lemon can also provide some protection against skin cancer and prevent sunburn. The combination of tea and lemon rind is believed to work to protect the skin from the sun’s harmful UV rays.
8- Add a refreshing twist to cold drinks: Add a few drops of lemon juice to your ice trays. Adding lemon to your water, your mineral water or your iced tea can make these drinks taste better. Try squeezing some lemon juice into your ice trays before placing them in your freezer -- a few hours later, you’ll have the perfect flavor enhancer for any cold beverage.
9- Make lemonade: When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. But don’t make just any ordinary lemonade: be innovative and mix some watermelon juice or pineapple juice into your lemonade.
10- Nature’s medicine: Lemon juice is believed to be the best medicine for a wide range of illnesses. If you have a sore throat, try gargling with some lemon juice three times a day. Lemons can also cleanse the kidneys, the liver and the blood. A lemon squeezed into lukewarm or hot water is great for digestion and for the circulatory system as well.
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