Let’s talk about limes.
This week I’ve decided to focus on the delicious citrus fruit, limes. Limes are in peak season from January to April. It’s almost time to say goodbye to this zesty, flavourful fruit. Why not make the most of them whilst you still can? Limes are incredibly versatile, they can brighten up any savoury dish whilst making desserts sing. Let’s not forget about their ability to jazz up a beverage or two as well. Before we take a look at some tantalising recipes, let’s take a quick look as to why it is good to incorporate these guys into your diet.
Nutritional Properties:
The average lime you receive in your FarmGate Online order is approximately 80g. This week it is a little tricker to quantify the edible position of this fruit. Some dishes require you to use the zest and pulp whereas others use just the juice of the lime. For ease, I’ve just focused on the average quantity of juice each lime provides you with. You’ll remember that according to the Australian Guide to Healthy Eating, one serve of fruit weighs 150g or is the equivalent to 125mL of fruit juice. It would be unlinkley that you would consume 125mL of lime juice in one sitting, therefore for the purpose of this analysis I have chosen to use the juice of one lime which is on average, 45mL. Although this may not contribute to your daily serves of fruit, limes provide us with some important nutrients for our every day functioning.
So what does consuming lime juice offer me nutritionally?
Limes contain small amounts of potassium, fibre and calcium. However in terms of our daily requirements, limes offer negligible amounts of these nutrients.
They do offer us 45% of our Vitamin C requirements in just 45mLs.
Additional nutritional information:
- In the 19th century limes were used to treat the condition scurvy. As they are such a good source of Vitamin C, they were able to reverse the effects of this nutrient deficiency relatively quickly.
- One of Vitamin C’s main roles in the body is as an antioxidant. Due to this high antioxidant potential, contact with oxygen and heat can destroy this nutrient. Therefore when cooking with limes, it is important to minimise cooking time to ensure nutrient retention.
- Limes are completely FODMAP friendly so you can enjoy these as part of a balanced diet.
Storage Tips:
Limes can be stored at room temperature for approximately 1 week.
For extended shelf life, store them in the crisper section of your fridge.
Menu ideas:
- Why not mix up your breakfast routine? These key lime smoothie bowls are sure to give you a spring in your step.
- How about these strawberry, lime chia yoghurt parfaits? You can get the kids to help layer their own.
- This crispy skin barramundi with black rice and coriander-lime sauce recipe ticks all of the boxes. Nutritious and super tasty too.
- This sticky chicken with green curry noodles recipe is the perfect comfort food dish.
- These beef and cabbage tacos are so simple to make and they look beautiful on the plate.
- These tangy lime and raspberry bars are a sneaky way to get the family to eat more nuts and fruit. The sweetness from the berries and zing from the lime will have everyone asking for seconds.
- For those of you aged 18 years and over, this strawberry daiquiri sounds simply delicious for those warm Autumn days.
Recipe for the week:
I recently made this raw key lime tart to take to a family event. I am an advocate for eating the real deal full-fat, full-sugar dessert from time to time.
However I knew this day would be a decadent affair so on this occasion I chose a plant-based, less indulgent dessert to finish the meal.
Don’t go in expecting this recipe to taste exactly like a key lime tart but it’s a delicious, nourishing recipe which got my family members eating dried fruit, nuts and coconut milk.
Luckily all of these ingredients are my pantry staples too so it was a win-win. For cost purposes, I used regular dates instead of medjool dates. I had to add a few extra dates into the base mixture.
If your base isn’t holding together well, add in a few more dates and a touch of coconut oil to bind it together. Enjoy!
As always, feel free to comment below with recipe inspiration or head over to the FarmGate Online Facebook Group and show me what you’ve created.
Happy Cooking.
