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Caramelized Lemony Dressing

Prep Time5 minutes
Cook Time10 minutes
Total Time15 minutes
Course: Salad, Salad Dressing
Cuisine: American
Keyword: gluten free, lemon dressing, salad dressing
Author: GFchow @ gfchow.com

Ingredients

  • 1 lemon seeds removed, sliced thinly
  • 5 tablespoons olive oil divided
  • 2 tablespoons honey your favorite kind, more or less according to the level of sweetness you prefer
  • 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt to taste
  • freshly ground black pepper few grinds

Instructions

  • Heat 3 tablespoons olive oil in a medium-sized pan over medium heat.
  • Place lemon slices into the pan and cook lemons until browned on both sides. Approximate cooking time is 7-8 minutes, 5-6 minutes on the first side, and 1-2 minutes on the other side. Cooking times will vary depending on the thickness of your lemon slices. Be sure to keep an eye on the lemons as they are cooking to make sure they are browning and not burning!
  • Remove the lemons and place them on a cutting board. Scrape out all of the brown bits and oil from the bottom of the pan (because they’re packed with tons of flavor!) and place them in a medium-sized bowl.
  • Before chopping the lemons, let cool slightly and set aside 1-2 lemon slices to use in your salad as garnish, if desired. Then finely chop the remaining lemon slices. It’s best to chop them by hand until they’re in itty bitty pieces, creating somewhat of a paste.
  • Place chopped lemons into the reserved medium-sized bowl with the scraped oil and browned bits from the pan, and add honey, remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil, kosher salt, and freshly ground pepper. Combine ingredients together with a spoon or spatula. Taste and adjust seasoning, if necessary.
  • If not using the dressing immediately, store in an air-tight container and refrigerate. Let come to room temp before using.
  • Salad suggestions for the Caramelized Lemony Dressing. Use any combination of the following:
    Lettuce: bibb, butter, raddichio, romaine, watercress, etc
    Fruit: dates or figs sliced or dried cranberries, cherries or blueberries 
    Nuts:  macadamia, hazelnuts, pecans, pistachios, cashews, chopped
    Cheese:  parmesan or Gruyere, shaved or grated 
    Protein: chicken or turkey, chopped or shredded
    Grain: cooked quinoa or wild rice

Notes

When assembling your salad, it’s best to add the dressing to the bottom of the bowl first  and then add in your salad ingredients on top and mix together.