Mediterranean Lamb Salad

This dish was inspired by one I saw on Nigella Express where she used lamb tenderloin to make a thai inspired salad. Since I was out of both thai fish sauce and soy sauce, I thought I'd adapt the recipe to what I had on hand. This ended up being mainly Mediterranean additions such as vinegar and olive oil, which is where the title came from. I had planned to use Balsamic vinegar but only realized at the last minute that we were out so I used the cider vinegar instead.

Dressing mix, waiting for the lamb! 

Lamb steaks browning

Lamb cocoon

I highly recommend this dish for a weekday dinner because it was so quick to prepare. The actual cooking only takes five - six minutes depending on your lamb steaks and preferences. Then the lamb sits in it's little foil cocoon until the other elements are ready. I think this method could probably work with any cut of lamb so don't worry if you can't find these particular steaks. Nigella used lamb tenderloin for her dish but my supermarket didn't have any in stock unfortunately! One thing to remember: be careful with the vinegar as the amount used will vary depending on your personal tastes.

Salad!

Prep Time: 5-10 min

Cook Time: 15 min

Serves: 2

Ingredients:

2 lamb leg steaks
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper
8-10 cherry tomatoes
Salad leaves
2-3 tbsp cider vinegar
1/4 red onion, finely chopped
2 green onions, finely chopped
1 tbsp fresh chives, finely chopped
1 tsp mixed herbs
8-10 new potatoes

Method:

In a pan large enough for the lamb steaks, saute the onion and green onion in a teaspoon of olive oil until softened. Remove from pan and place into a shallow baking dish. Season the steaks with salt and pepper and then add a little more oil to the pan if needed and saute the steaks until brown on both sides. When they have finished browning, wrap them in a foil parcel and leave to sit for 5 minutes (or more depending on the thickness of your steaks and how well done you prefer them to be). Meanwhile, boil the potatoes until they are soft and then drain and set aside. Slice the cherry tomatoes in half and divide the salad leaves, tomatoes and potatoes between two plates. In the baking dish, whisk the chives, herbs and vinegar along with a few dashes of olive oil into the onion mixture. When the lamb has rested, open the foil packet and pour the accumulated juices into the baking dish with the dressing. Slice the lamb carefully and add the pieces and any further juices to the dressing. Leave to sit for a minute before pouring over the plates. Enjoy! 

Moussaka

In honor of Easter, I wanted to make something lamb based but thought that a leg of lamb might be a bit too pricey/fancy. So after a quick search, I settled on making moussaka - a Greek dish comprised of lamb mince and aubergines. Having never made this before, I was a bit nervous but luckily the Guardian had taken all the hard work out for me. Their weekly food column, "How to Make the Perfect...", by Felicity Cloake takes a dish and examines the different recipe tips and tricks before giving their verdict on how to make the perfect version. Her recipe had a manageable number of ingredients and was fairly simple to prepare - which are of course my main criteria for a first attempt at a dish.

Ingredients (ignore the chopped tomatoes)

Aubergine ready for the oven

Aubergine fresh from the oven

This version was surprisingly easy to make and had a great cinnamon flavor. The béchamel topping was equally easy and had the perfect amount of salt from the pecorino cheese. If you're looking for a dish that will  be warming but still spring-like, this is a great option. Also, by baking the eggplant first, this negates the need to salt them and also keeps the oil level of the overall dish much lower than other versions.

Layer 1: Aubergine

Layer 2: Meat sauce

Layer 6: Béchamel 

Finished result!

Recipe via www.guardian.co.uk

Prep Time: 30 min

Cook Time: 45 min

Serves: 6

Ingredients: 

2-3 aubergines, sliced lengthwise
1 large onion, chopped
5 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp oregano
500g lamb mince
2 tbsp tomato puree, mixed with 150ml of water
150ml red wine
1 tbsp parsley
500ml milk
60g butter
60g flour
50g pecorino
1 tsp nutmeg
2 eggs
Salt
Pepper

Method: 

Preheat the oven to 180C / 355F.

Lay aubergine slices on a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Brush both sides of each slice with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until the slices are soft and browned lightly.

Meanwhile, saute the onion in olive oil over medium heat until soft and translucent. Add in the garlic, cinnamon and oregano. Saute for a minute before adding the lamb mince. Continue to saute until lamb has browned and then add the tomato puree mixture and the red wine. Allow to simmer for 30 minutes or until most of the liquid has been absorbed.

In a separate pan, heat the milk until just before boiling. In another pan, melt the butter and add in the flour to make a roux. Slowly whisk this into the milk to form the béchamel sauce. Add the nutmeg, salt and pepper and remove from the heat. Allow to cool slightly before adding the two eggs so they don't scramble.

To assemble the moussaka, start with a layer of a third of the aubergine and top with half of the lamb mixture. Continue with these layers, finishing with a final aubergine layer. Top with the béchamel sauce. Bake for 45 minutes until the top is nicely browned. Allow to sit for 30 minutes so that the layers solidify a bit before slicing. Enjoy!  

Lamb and Feta Burgers

I was really excited to try this recipe. I mean, who doesn't like a good burger? I hadn't really played around with different meat options before, which is ridiculous since there are so many interesting recipes out there! Staying loyal to beef has been so limiting. So, in that vein, I started looking over lamb burger recipes. Some had lemon, some had feta, and some had garlic. I thought, why not all of them? I have a similar recipe for lamb meatballs that include lots of garlic and lemon zest so it seemed natural to add them all together. And the results were delicious! Super easy, fairly healthy (especially if you omit the pitta bread bun) and delicious. This recipe came together so quickly that I'll definitely repeat often! I was a bit too greedy and didn't want to waste time adding salad into my burger (I was hungry!) so that might be a nice addition next time. I also used the sun dried tomato and basil mayonnaise from the last recipe because I still had some on hand. Delicious!

Ingredients

Feta

Ready to mix

On the grill pan

Finished product!

Prep Time: 10 min

Cook Time: 10 min

Serves: 4

Ingredients: 

500g lamb mince
90g feta, chopped/crumbled
2 cloves of garlic, minced
Zest of one lemon
1/4 cup of sliced olives
4 pieces of pitta bread

Method: 

Mix the ingredients together and form into four patties. Grill on a lightly oiled grill pan until cooked through. Toast the pitta bread, slice in half and then place half of each burger into each half of the pitta. Add mayonnaise, onion and other favorites. Enjoy!