Lemon Zest

Another tip that my mother, the Original Diva, taught me was to always pity the lemon about to be squeezed for Tabbouleh, Lemon Bars, or Lemon-Lentil Soup and then unceremoniously discarded. She suggests I take a few moments to quickly rasp the lemon(s) I will be using on a MicroPlane and stash the bounty in a Ziploc in the freezer. And so that's what I do.

The four lemons above were about to be squeezed for Tabbouleh. How could I let them go to waste??Of course if you do it every time, you risk a glut of lemons. So only replenish your supply as your stash gets low. There is nothing better than reading a recipe that requires lemon zest and knowing all you have to do is reach into your freezer and snap a bit off the frozen pile.

Chipotle Chicken Skewers with Creamy Cilantro Dipping Sauce

The older I get, the leaner and leaner I find I have to make my meals. I've got my advancing age and my parents to thank for my abysmal metabolic rate (the ONLY bad thing they passed on to me, those amazing, loving people!). The other day I had an epiphany of sorts. If I eat appetizers at restaurants as my main meal, then why not do so at home?