Lime Fever: 30 Things to do with Limes

mswanawana wrote on Instagram:

‘Its official. You are obsessed with limes. Get on with the lime and lemon grass cordial’

Limes.

Zip. Zing. Zest.

Great with sweet – mangoes, ripe plantains, pawpaw, perfect with spice, like cardamom; herbs like mint and tang, like yogurt.

Nigerian dessert: Mango and Lime Dessert

Pushed and prodded by Miss Wana Wana on Instagram, I decided to share my favourite ways to make them bed and mouth fellow.

But first, a few tips on prepping, storing and using them.

How to Prepare Limes

  • Zest for toppings and to include in recipes
  • Cut slices, cheeks and wedges to garnish and to serve with meals and drinks

How to juice a lime

How to Store Limes

Limes are best refrigerated, where they last 3 or 4 times longer than in the pantry.

Unrefrigerated, I find my limes stay a week before the skin turns brown, or hard, or goes bad altogether.

Refrigerated, I’ve had some last a month.

How to Juice a Lime

Follow the tutorials in the link – nice and easy

And finally, 30 things + to do with Limes

Breakfast Ideas
  1. Make lime curd, even mango and lime curd
  2. Squeeze over a dollop of yogurt, on a bed of sliced bananas. Or any fruit for that matter. The yogurt is an excellent ferry for the clean, refreshing flavours of lime – absorbing any bitterness and letting its essence shine through
  3. Pawpaw and lime. No yogurt needed. *Doffs hat*

Nigerian dessert: Mango and Lime Dessert

Drinks
  1. Put slices in your water. As Natural Nigerian testifies
  2. Give your hibiscus infusion/ Zobo life with limes
  3. Make limeade. Spruce it up and call it your Pink Spring Blush – Rhubarb and Lime.
  4. Liven up your Chapman cocktail with juice and wedge
  5. Coconut water. It transforms coconut water. Yes, the transparent, slightly cloudy water in the belly of the brown nut. It marries well. Add a touch of sweetener if you like and a slice of cucumber for cool. refreshing tropical heaven
  6. Add to sugarcane juice _DSC0736
  7. Make a cordial with lemons, lemongrass and limes
  8. Great in some teas and infusions – both juice and zest
  9. Lovely in smoothies –  green, orange…whatever tickles your fancy (attr. Ms Wana Wana)

Passion fruit, Pawpaw and Lime

Preserves & Pickles
  1. Sugar-preserved limes. Shortcut to candied fruit
  2. To pickle onions. Red onions become beautiful, magenta-purple slices of beauty and deliciousnessGroundnut Chop
  3. Make Lime Marmalade. If you succeed. Please let me know. For, I didn’t.
Marinades & Sauces
  1. A ginger,lime and soy marinade for some fish with a bit of fish sauce and sesame oil, lime (attr. Ms Wana Wana)
  2. Lime with some honey,mustard and a bit of japanese rice wine vinegar for a green bean and pea salad. (attr. Ms Wana Wana)
  3. Green Thai curry (attr. Ms Wana Wana)
  4. Zest, To replace keffir lime leaves. In Curries. Sambals. Dips.
Sides
DSC_0703
Brazilian-Nigerian cuisine: Plantain Salad Imoyo
  1. Ceviche. The acids in lime work well to ‘cure‘ seafood and render them edible
  2. Papaya Salad , where the clean, refreshing flavours lifts the entire dish
  3. Mango Salsa. No words needed. Guac too. Corn salsa
  4. As a dressing in a ‘coleslaw’ mix of carrots, cabbage and other salads. with sweet elements. Plantain salad Imoyo
  5. With coconut. In a ‘cooked’ cassava salad
_DSC0839
Coconut & Cassava salad
Desserts
_DSC0911
Pawpaw Bread Pudding
  1. Make a quick, rich Lime ice cream
  2. With mangoes. And cardamom. With mint. For tropical flavours.
  3. Wedges. To squeeze over creamy desserts. Like Blackberry Cheescake verrines. The best thing I ever made. The thing that gave the trophy to limes. Before I got to know Meyers anyway. IMG_6847
  4. To ‘finish’ off desserts like Bread Pudding, like yogurt pots
  5. Gently folded into whipped cream, to top things like the most-delicious Coconut Tres Leches cake. Ever.
_DSC0900
Coconut Tres Leches with lime-whipped cream
Other Interesting Uses

IMG_6785

  1. Scratch and sniff and get transported to lands far, far away
  2. Clean your sink/counter with ‘used’ limes
  3. Great with Suya
  4. Nice, dried and ground to make finishing salts
  5. Combining with honey to make a cough remedy (@sh0made)
  6. Great for cleaning snails

DSC_0702

There you have it, a few of my favourite ways to use limes.

What are yours? Please share, I’d love to try new recipes with them.

Stay well.

24 Comments

  1. I have tested a nearly roses lime marmalade recipe I found on Pinterest and it is absolutely wonderful, so close to the Roses lime marmalade we buy that as long as I have limes on my tree I will continue to make it.

  2. After searching google, “what to do with a bag of limes” I was immediately directed to this post ?. Thank you for sharing your wonderful suggestions – I am looking forward to trying them! Brava la donna!

  3. my…my! just got some yesterday. limes can be added to warm water to give it that flavor that’s so refreshing, taken in the morning before breakfast is good for shedding off tummy fats.

    can’t wait to try with coconuts and coconut milk!

  4. WOW WOW… it’s amazing how many ways you use the lime… you could even use it as part of a centerpiece (at the bottom of a glass vase) or even part of an air freshner concoction! – I was just noticing the other day how lime has this weird way of making a dish a little “sweet”… does that make any sense? Where as lemon is much more tart to me… what a lovely summary!

  5. Hi there my friend!! I’m finally back to my food blog after several quiet months (or more!)….how I’ve missed it. I’ve still been visiting and reading my friends, but have just been super quiet. I hope you had a great summer!

    I love this post, and love limes. I wish they’d last longer…I always try to keep some on hand, but sometimes don’t use them before going bad. They are definitely one of my kitchen staples.

  6. I squeeze a bit of lime into my chin-chin mix, (Learnt from my mom). It’s adds a bit of zing to the chin-chin and the flavors are unbelievable.

    Stumbled on your blog for the first time today. absolutely love it! *now stealing your recipes*

    Great job!

  7. There are never enough limes in our house, ever. I actually also throw the peels into vinegar — leave for however long — strain out — mix with soap solution — and the use as a spray for ordinary household cleaning. I grew up with my mother throwing used lime peels into double boilers or at the base of pressure cookers — you’d be amazed at how clean they become, and just after cooking, too. We also just keep and use the peels for general household cleaning — copper bottoms get a new shine and so does anything that corrodes or tarnishes even lightly. And all that is just the peel!!

  8. Soo much potential to this little, zesty green fruit! Wonderful. Love the look of the plantain salad.

  9. A dear friend just brought me a bag full of limes from her tree, so I’m delighted with all your lovely and delicious ways to use them. 🙂 XO

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