…make pickled lemons!

So you juiced 20 pounds of lemons during your fast and couldn’t bear to throw away all that organic waste?  Here’s what I did, using about a dozen previously juiced lemons.  The lemons still have quite a bit of juice to them, locked in the fibers.

Pickled Lemons with Goji Berries

Take all your crushed lemons, chop them into quarters, and toss them into the Vitamix.  Then add just enough water (about 2 cups) to get the blender moving.  Finally, toss in about 1/2 cup of goji berries.  Give this mixture a stir with the blender off, using a long wooden spoon.

Run the blender for less than 5 seconds — that should be all it takes to get all of the lemon stuff chopped up into thumb-sized pieces.  The goji berries should get shredded into a pretty confetti.

Add about 1 Tablespoon of rock salt to this mixture.  You should be stirring manually from this point forward.

Optional: Add 2-4 tablespoons sugar.

Add pickling spices as desired.  I added 2 Tablespoons of coarsely ground cinnamon and a tablespoon of thyme.

Pour mixture into a glass jar for pickling.  Make sure the mixture tastes pretty salty and sour.  If it doesn’t, add more lemon juice and/or salt.

Pour 1/4 cup olive oil on top.  It should rest neatly.  This is to prevent the mixture from being exposed to air.

Cover and leave in a clean and dry location for at least 10 days, but I recommend 14 to 21.

When you’re ready to try it, carefully tilt the jar to pour the olive oil into a separate container.

If you can nom through the peels as if they were bananas, it’s ready.  Keep it in the fridge after you’re happy with it.

These are sort of Moroccan-style.  The goji berries add fun colors and a bit of extra nutrition.  I like eating pickled lemons with medjool dates!