What are Street Lemons?

If you drive around my town these days, especially in the older, established areas, you will find citrus trees loaded full of lemons, oranges, and other citrus fruits.  Our climate is ideal for citrus and it seems every house has at least one fruit-bearing tree.  

My sister told me that she recently made some lemon bars out of "street lemons."  

"What are street lemons?" 

"Oh you know, when you are on a walk, they are the lemons you get from trees that are hanging into the street."

(Don't worry, she didn't trespass, just "gleaned" from neglected trees that were already dropping fruit everywhere) 

Because I have several grocery bags of lemons generously given to me by my family from their over-abundant trees, I am trying to incorporate lemons in our meals as much as possible.

This day, I was craving a pasta dish, so I decided to make a creamy lemon pasta.  I served it with a side of baked salmon seasoned with salt, pepper, and lemon juice. 
 

Creamy Lemon Pasta with Spinach and Artichoke Hearts 

16 oz brown rice spaghetti
2 tsp coconut oil
6 cloves of garlic, sliced thinly (I love this new gadget I got!)
Juice from 2-3 lemons
8oz cream cheese (organic or non-dairy)
2 tbl capers
1 can artichoke hearts
8oz baby spinach chopped
Fresh ground salt and pepper

Cook spaghetti according to package directions.  Drain, rinse, and set aside.  

In a large, deep skillet, heat coconut oil over medium.  Add garlic slices, and cook for about a minute, taking care not to let the garlic burn.  Add lemon juice and cream cheese, and heat until cream cheese is melted, being careful not to let it boil, reducing the heat as necessary.  Add capers and artichoke hearts and heat thoroughly, about 3 minutes.  Add pasta and spinach and toss until sauce completely coats pasta and everything is mixed throughout the pasta.  Season to taste with fresh ground salt and pepper.  Serve by itself or with a side of your favorite seafood (baked salmon or sauteed shrimp and my favorite choices).

Lemony Basil Spinach Pesto (Vegan)

The other day, I was really craving some pesto, but my basil plant didn't really have enough leaves to make a batch.  But I did have a giant tub of spinach from Costco wilting away in the back of my fridge.   I used a small handful of basil and the entire tub of spinach and came out with a small bowl of yummy pesto.  It amazed me how little pesto I actually got compared to the massive amount of spinach I had.  A costco tub of spinach is ginormous!

I followed the same general steps that I used for my dairy-free basil pesto, except this time, I used raw pine nuts and did not toast them.   

Once again, I forgot to take a picture of this creation.  Which is really sad, because it turned such a beautiful bright shade of green.  I ended up freezing most of this in ice cube trays and then store the pesto cubes in a Ziploc so I have pesto all winter.   

Lemony Basil Spinach Pesto

1 small handful basil leaves

1 - 1lb tub of spinach

3 cloves garlic (I love my fermented garlic)

1/4 c. raw pine nuts

Juice and zest of 2 lemons

+/- 1/2 c. Olive oil

Salt and pepper

Put the basil, spinach, garlic and nuts in a food processor and pulse until everything is chopped.  Add lemon juice and zest.  Turn on food processor and slowly drizzle in olive oil until it reaches desired consistency.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Use immediately, store in a sealed container in the fridge for about 7-10 days, or freeze. 

The beginning of summer

Even though fall and winter are my favorite seasons, I really do love summertime (minus heat and humidity).  I love the long days...summer gardens....BBQ's...roadtrips...star gazing...spending long nights lingering over a chilled bottle of good wine and good conversation with friends. 

The one thing that's been so hard this year is not being able to eat at any of the food when we go to a party. After one day of surviving on carrot sticks and a Lara Bar, I decided that I'm just going to have to bring my own food and not hope that I'll be able to eat wherever we end up.  This past weekend we celebrated my Grandpa's 80th birthday and a cousin's high school graduation.  Both were BBQ's, so I decided to bring along a cold side that I could enjoy and share if anyone was interested.

One of my favorite things to make for BBQ's is an "everything but the kitchen sink" pasta salad.  I boil up all the odds and ends of leftover pasta, chop up all almost empty jars of olives and pickled vegetables, add bits of meats and cheeses from the lunch-meat drawer, finely chop up what's left in the vegetable crisper, and toss with the 17 almost-empty bottles of vinaigrette taking up the entire fridge door. It's always different, yet always delicious.   

Now that I'm on such a restrictive diet, I can't use my go-to "recipe" for the summer BBQ season.  So instead of focusing on what I CAN'T have, I looked at what I CAN have.  I had a box of quinoa in my pantry and decided to make a quinoa "pasta" salad and only use what I had on hand.  It turned out so good.  My hubby said it was "light and refreshing."  You will probably want to double the recipe for your next potluck because it's that good!

Quinoa "Pasta" Salad

1c quinoa, rinsed throughly, prepared according to package directions (can be made ahead of time and chilled)
2 carrots, shredded
1 bunch green onions, chopped
1/2 cucumber, seeded, peeled and diced
12 large basil leaves, cut into ribbons
4 c baby spinach, chopped
1 can artichoke heart quarters, drained
1 can black olives, drained

Dressing
1/4 c garlic flavored olive oil
1/4 c raw apple cider vinegar
1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper
1 tsp herbs de provonce

Mix together cooked quinoa, carrots, green onions, cucumber, basil, spinach, artichoke hearts, and olives. Pour dressing over top and mix toghether.  Cover and chill or serve immediately.