A thousand and one uses for a zested lemon | Kitchen aide

Well, maybe not quite a thousand, but when life gives you bald lemons, make lemon ice cubes or indeed any of these super suggestions from our panel of lemonheads I regularly use lemon zest, but the result is that I often have two or three bald lemons hanging around going mouldy. What can I do with them?Bel, by email“We use a lot of zest and peel in our cooking at the restaurant,” sympathises Chris Shaw of Toklas in London, “so we also end up with a load of peeled lemons.” Not that that’s a hardship, mind, because no matter what you’re making, you’re almost always going to need acid in some shape or form. As Jad Youssef, author of Lebnani, says: “If something’s flat, lemon juice is usually the fix. In Lebanon, we always have cut lemons on the table, ready to squeeze over pretty much every meal.” To be a bit more specific, though, Bel’s first port of call might be dressings, particularly at prime salad time. “Whisk the juice with olive oil, a pinch of salt, maybe a bit of garlic, and a drizzle of pomegranate molasses,” Youssef says. That would then mingle nicely with all manner of things: tomatoes, radishes, cucumber, or grilled courgette or aubergine. But be sure to squeeze those le

May 26, 2026 → May 26, 2026