Tang Two Ways

Roasted roots

Putting our lemon harvest to tasty good use was Sunday’s task and I made one savory and one sweet dish. The savory offering I found on epicurious.com: Roasted Carrots, Parsnips & Meyer Lemons (click here for recipe). What attracted me to this recipe, besides the inclusion of lemon slices, was that it called for 20 cloves of garlic and not-often-used parsnips. As you can see above, the finished dish looks terrific — take it from me it tastes fantastic! The carrots and parsnips become sweet in the oven’s high heat and the lemons retain their tang as well as becoming caramelized. Both balance out nicely against the savory and now-mellowed cloves of garlic and the olive oil that coats them all …

Before the fire

Prep is simple: root veggies are peeled, garlic cloves skinned but left whole, lemons sliced … all are tossed with olive oil and roasted in a single layer, then combined at the end. A quick topping of chopped flat-leaf parsley adds a bright herbal finish. You have to try this dish with roasted chicken.

Candied tang

On the sweet side I decided that Meyer Lemon Cupcakes with Candied Lemon Zest (click here for recipe and tutorial) would be fun … and boy, were they. The cake part of the recipe, which included grated lemon zest, produced a mild lemon-flavored base with a delicate crumb. The frosting, however, amps up the lemon flavor by including both zest and fresh juice … I took things a step further by doubling the recommended amounts. I’m glad I did, too, because for me the final product was perfect: a classic cream cheese frosting now had a just-this-side-of-pucker-inducing lemon zing! Making the candied peel garnish was simple, too, and I loved the translucent — and super tangy — result.

I used a large number of our lemons for these dishes, and gave an equal amount away to my sister … but the trees’s still resplendent with both buds and blooms, so more are one the way. Next harvest I plan on a Meyer lemon marmalade and a Moroccan chicken dish with lemons and olives … can’t wait!