Quick Pickled Lemons

Pickled lemons- ready to eat

I read a recipe a while ago for making quick pickled lemons. Pickled lemons sounds funny at first, I must admit. After all, aren't lemons sour enough?
But after making it, trust me on this one- this recipe is a keeper! It works as a condiment and is a stupendous addition to nearly any food in the world. (Ok, slight exaggeration- I tried it out with at least 20 foods and they were all delicious.) This food is also chock full of vitamin C, perfect for days like today when I have such a terrible cold that I don't feel like getting out of bed...

Best of all- I am able to make this recipe nearly for free, out of some of the great foraged organic lemons I got yesterday along with some cold fighting foraged mallow. (But that's for another post.)
But the fact that it's free, organic, easy, and delicious means it racks up lots of points in my book.

Quick Pickled Lemons

Ingredients:
4 lemons, ideally organic
1 tablespoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar

Instructions:

My organic foraged lemons. Aren't they beauties?

1. Wash the lemons very well if they're not organic. If you're lucky enough to be able to get organic lemons, be thrilled like I am, and just rinse.
2. Chop up the lemons, peel and all, into teeny tiny bits. If you have any cuts on your fingers, you might want to wear gloves, otherwise this may hurt. If you go glove free, be prepared to run to the sink at least 5 times in the middle of making this to rid yourself of the burn and have your 3 year old ask "Mommy, what's wrong?!?!" as he sees you biting your lips in pain.
3. Remove as many seeds as you can. Ideally you should remove every last one, but, let me assure you, that is nearly impossible. Just do your best, and your family will just have to spit out the seeds as they come across them while eating this.
4. Put the chopped lemons in a glass jar. Add the salt and sugar and mix.
5. Leave the lemons out for 3 hours at room temperature, then refrigerate. This should last a while in the fridge.
6. Serve with anything. I've tried this with (but not limited to) eggplant salad, tomato dip, cucumber salad, carrot salad, beet salad, bean dip, tahini dip, humus, mayo, barley, noodles, rice, chicken, etcetera etcetera.
7. Wonder how they isn't any left when you made a double batch just 1 day ago!


Ever have pickled lemons? Do you think you'd ever try a recipe like this?