Eat Good To Eat Bad! | Lemon & Lime (3 ways)

My philosophy with food is eat good so you can eat bad!

What I mean by this is just eat in moderation and maintain a balance. As long as you eat healthy good food the majority of the time then why not have a treat every once in a while?With that in mind, I’ve thought up a nice light and healthy recipe which is great for weekend lunches or a quick evening meal for milder nights. Don’t worry though, if you scroll down you’ll find some sinful treats too!

All of these use one of my food heroes: the citrus fruit. I buy a bag of lemon and limes practically every week these days as they have so many uses both in sweet and savoury dishes.

Serves 2

2 fillets of salmon
1 lime
1 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper
2 or 3 courgettes
A small punnet of cherry tomatoes

• Preheat your grill to high.
• Grate the lime zest and rub 2/3s over your salmon. Season both sides with a few grinds of salt and pepper. If you want a more peppery taste, grind up whole peppercorns using a pestle and mortar.
• Heat 1 tbsp of olive oil in a non stick frying pan on a medium high heat. Add the salmon skin side down and cook for 4 minutes. Don’t move the salmon as this is likely to tear the skin off, but this method will crisp up the skin -mmm!
• Put the fish, still in the frying pan, under the grill for 5 minutes. Be careful when you remove it as the handle will be hot (use oven gloves!)
• Carefully lift out the fish and transfer it to a plate.
• Add a dash more oil to the saucepan and squeeze in the juice of half the lime (or more if you prefer), plus a pinch of salt and pepper. Heat this for 30 seconds as you mix it together and then remove from the heat.
• For the salad, simply make up some courgetti (using a spiralizer or a julienne peeler, as per my post here) and chop some cherry tomatoes in half. Drizzle over the dressing you made in the saucepan and toss the salad. Add
  extra seasoning if you wish.
• Pile the salad on a plate and serve the salmon on top, either whole or flaked. Sprinkle over the remaining zest and one last squeeze of juice!

 

Lemon Meringue Cupcakes

• Preheat your oven to 180 degrees C and line a cupcake tray with 12 cases.
• Beat the cupcake ingredients together and spoon in the mixture.
• Bake in the oven for 15 minutes, then prick with a cocktail stick to check that they’re done. (If it comes back clean they are ready, otherwise pop them back in for a few more minutes).
• Switch your oven to it’s grill setting on a medium to high heat.

• Cut a shallow hole into the top of each cupcake, then spoon in 1 tsp of lemon curd.
• Beat the egg whites until they form soft peaks, then continue to beat as you add 1 tablespoon of sugar at a time, until the mixture is stiff and glossy.
• Spoon the mixture into a piping bag and pipe it into swirls on the cupcakes.
• Transfer them onto a baking tray and place under the grill for 1 to 2 minutes. *Watch them like a hawk to avoid burning!*

 

Enjoy!

 

This cake is extra moist and tangy. There is no subtlety here as I like to go all out with this one! You can make it without the lime if preferred by replacing the quantity of lime juice/zest with lemon instead.

Cake
170g self raising flour
170g room temperature butter
170g caster sugar
3 large eggs
1/2 tsp baking powder
Zest of 1 lemon
Zest of 1 lime

Lemon & Lime Drizzle
170g icing sugar
Juice of 2 lemons
Juice of 1 lime

 

• Preheat your oven to 180 degrees C.
• Beat together all the cake mix ingredients until combined. Either grease a non stick tin or line it with a case to save on the washing up! I use a 2lb loaf tin.
• Pour your mixture into the loaf tin and bake for 35 to 40 minutes. Use the cocktail stick method to check that it’s cooked.
• Remove from the oven and whilst it cools down just a little, mix your icing sugar and citrus juice together.
• Prick the cake all over with deep holes so that your drizzle can really infuse through the cake. Mine looks like a porcupine has attacked it – it may not be the prettiest thing, but the taste more than makes up for it!
• Drizzle the glaze all over.
• Leave this to dry and harden, then slice into big chunks and enjoy!

 

 

I hope you enjoy these recipes, please do let me know if you try any of them!
You can tweet me at @lovedbylaurac or find me on Instagram at instagram.com/lovedbylaurac.