Lemon Archives - A Side of Sweet

Lemon Parmesan Popcorn with Infused Algae Oil

An easy Lemon Parmesan Popcorn Recipe with infused Meyer lemon algae oil and cracked pepper. Makes a guilt-free healthy snack!

You might be surprised to know that I have a full-time job outside of A Side of Sweet doing something completely unrelated to blogging! I actually work nights in the pediatric ICU here in San Francisco as a pediatrician. It’s a busy job, but one that is super rewarding.

With shifts that average 13 hours, I need high quality food to keep me going. Part of my routine is popcorn for a midnight snack every night. It’s high in fiber, low in calories and I don’t have to feel guilty eating it.

… Read More »

Lemon Cake with Meyer Lemon Infused Algae Oil

A light and airy lemon cake recipe made with Meyer lemon-infused algae oil. Algae oil has healthy fats and is great for everything from roasting to baking.

Infusing oils is my new favorite thing. It’s incredibly easy and is such a fun way to breathe new life into old recipes. We have a Meyer lemon tree in our backyard, so I took some of the peels and infused a bottle of algae oil. The entire process takes about 15 minutes from start to finish.

I am using my Meyer lemon-infused oil in everything, from a lemon vinaigrette salad dressing to lemony popcorn. It’s also the star of the incredible light and fluffy lemon cake you see here.

Curious? You can learn how to make Meyer lemon-infused oil in my latest YouTube video! I’m also sharing a few of my favorite recipes that feature it.

Plow’s Lemon Ricotta Pancakes

The best pancakes you will ever eat – the secret Lemon Ricotta Pancakes recipe from Plow Restaurant in San Francisco, CA.

Editor Note: This recipe and post were originally posted January 5th, 2015. This is an updated post with new photos, but the text is the same. Want to see what my photos were like three years ago this time? Check out the end of the post!

The new year is upon us and my blog feed is blowing up with new year’s resolutions! Sometimes I get a little frustrated with the idea of setting resolutions. So often it feels like setting yourself up for failure and disappointment. Even so, I always like to set a few goals for blogging and things that I want to make more of a priority this year. I’m still working on the list and it’s not quite ready for primetime yet. I can’t wait to share it though. I always value the feedback and accountability all of you bring!… Read More »

Perfect Lemon Bars

I’m going to take a strong stance on this one and just put this out there – lemons are the best thing about winter. I’ve never been one for snow, despite spending the first 28 years of my life knee deep in the snowy winters of the Midwest. Winter sports? Not for me! Short days where I spend all of the few daylight hours we have stuck in the hospital? No thanks.

In San Francisco, lemons are totally in season right now and are considered local! It’s pretty magical…. Read More »

Lemon Lavender Tarts + Bouchon Pâte Sucrée

Lemon Tarts get a fragrant upgrade with the addition of lavender oil to the lemon curd. Bouchon Bakery’s Pâte Sucrée tart dough makes the perfect tart shells.

Love them or hate them, food blogs have changed the way we cook. Everyone I know has at least one or two food blogs that they go to for recipe inspiration. As with anything that has such a massive impact, they are going to come with their critics. Two such articles caught my eye recently, talking about food bloggers and their cliches.

The New Yorker published a humor piece last week that was written in the voice of a food blogger. It touched on a lot of blogger cliches, from our intent to use cauliflower in every dish imaginable to the practice of providing ingredient and step-by-step photos. It portrayed food bloggers as silly, morally-superior, red wine-guzzling sentimentalists. It’s hard to know if the writer was laughing with, or laughing at, food bloggers, but I have a hunch she was laughing at us…. Read More »

Best Homemade Lemonade

If you’ve been around here long, you’ll know that I pretty much spent all winter talking about lemons and how much I love lemon desserts. It’s funny though, no matter how wintry citrus desserts are, nothing says summer like fresh-squeezed lemonade! What’s up with that!?

Secrets to the perfect lemonade – stop frantically stirring your drink trying to dissolve that sugar! Make a simple syrup instead to ensure perfectly sweetened lemonade every time. Also, make sure you taste test frequently as you add the water – it’s a hard job, but someone has to do it! I love using Meyer lemons if you have access to them as they are naturally sweeter than traditional lemons…. Read More »