If life gives you lemons, sweeten them with honey and cook with them! Your taste buds will jump for joy from the juicy lemon and honey tanginess found in the savoury dishes that I am presenting. Serve the three dishes together if you are a real lemon fan, or mix and match them with your other favourite dishes. This Passover is going to be extra luscious.
Crispy lemon almond broccoli
o 2 tbsp. oil
o 2 tbsp. fresh ginger, minced
o 1/2 cup unsalted almonds
o 1 tbsp. lemon zest
o 4 garlic cloves, minced
o 1/2 tsp. salt, plus additional salt to taste (optional)
o 1 large broccoli, cut into flowerets
o 2-4 tbsp. water
o 2 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
o lemon slices for garnish
Process almonds until they resemble a coarse meal.
Heat a large frying pan over medium heat for 90 seconds. Add 1 tbsp. oil and the ginger. Sauté until soft. Add in the almonds, lemon zest and garlic. Continue to sauté, stirring often, until mixture is toasted. Remove from heat and mix in 1/4 tsp. of the salt.
Place mixture in a bowl and wipe out the pan. Heat the pan again and add in the remainder of the oil. Raise the heat to high and stir fry the broccoli, drizzling the water, 3-4 minutes or until cooked through but still crunchy. Dust with remaining salt.
While the pan is still on the heat, put almond mixture over the broccoli along with the lemon juice and mix together. Sprinkle additional salt to taste (optional). Pour onto a serving platter or bowl and garnish with lemon slices. Serve immediately.
Lemon roasted potatoes
o 12-14 small potatoes, uniform in size
oil spray
o 4 tbsp. Passover vegetable oil
o 2 tbsp. margarine
o zest of one large lemon
o juice of one large lemon
o 2 tsp. honey
o 2 tbsp. fresh chopped tarragon or 2 tsp. dried tarragon
o 1 tsp. salt
o 1/2 tsp. pepper
Preheat oven to 400. Prepare a baking sheet with foil and spray it with spray.
Peel potatoes and immerse immediately in cold water. Mix together lemon juice, honey, tarragon, salt and pepper, set aside.
Heat a small frying pan and heat the oil, margarine and lemon zest; continue to stir until mixture turns golden brown. Drain the potatoes and pat them dry. Toss potatoes with lemon mixture and place them on baking sheet. Bake for 45 minutes. Baste potatoes with lemon juice mixture. Bake for 15 minutes more or until potatoes are golden brown and fork tender. Serve immediately.
Lemon and rosemary chicken breasts
o 4 lemons
o 3 tbsp. honey
o 1/2 cup of water
o 5 skinless/boneless chicken breasts
o 1 tbsp. dried rosemary
o 2 tsp. kosher salt
o 1/4 tsp. pepper
o 1/4 cup lemon juice
o 2 tsp. honey
o 1 tbsp. olive oil
o large Ziploc baggie
o extra olive oil or spray
Using a zester with five holes, remove the zest from the lemons. (A vegetable peeler can also be used, remove zest and then slice it very thin.) To prepare candied lemon zest, place zest, honey and water in a small pot. Bring to a simmer and cook until zest is translucent. Strain and cool.
Mix the rosemary, salt, pepper, candied lemon zest, lemon juice, honey and olive oil together in a small bowl. Pat the chicken breasts dry.
Brush the mixture onto the chicken on all sides. Place the prepared chicken in the Ziploc bag and pour in any remaining marinade mixture, seal and place in refrigerator for 2 hours. Preheat the oven to 450 and put the rack in the middle position.
Prepare a baking dish sprayed or greased with olive oil. Place the chicken breasts onto the prepared pan, along with the remaining marinade. Bake for 15 minutes then turn the chicken breasts. Reduce oven temperature to 350. Continue baking another 30-35 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through.