One of my absolute favorite meats is lamb.  It's not a dish I make often, mainly because I've only found one farmers market in town that carries lamb I like and it's a winter market.  I know there are farms around town that I could purchase lamb from, and my husband and I are considering now that we've come home from Ireland.  We ate a lot of lamb there:  lamb chops, lamb tenderloin, ground lamb - and it was all amazing.

While grocery shopping, since we had ZERO food in the house when I got home (note to self: have a pre-made dinner ready when returning from a long trip so you don't eat crap food), I saw ground lamb at my local organic grocer.  It showed that it was grass fed and hormone free, so I decided it was worth a shot.  It was quite delicious, although I know they don't carry it all the time - good thing I bought two packages of it(;

Our last dinner in Dublin was at a restaurant called "The Farm" - appropriate enough it's owned by a local Dublin family, who also happen to be farmers.  The food was spectacular!   The starter (aka appetizer) we had was the lamb meatballs, and they were heavenly.   Even though we had a smaller portion in Ireland, I decided that the pound of lamb I had would be enough for a lovely summer dinner on it's own.

I mentioned in one of my Facebook posts that I often don't make traditional dinners (i.e.: meat protein, starch and vegetable) in the summer...or ever, for that matter.  I find that I'm never as hungry as I think I am, and if you really listen to your body (tips coming in another post) you find that you don't need as much food to sustain you as you were maybe taught you did.

Anywho....the recipe is what you really came for, right? 

Lamb Meatballs with Tangy Yogurt Sauce
makes 15-20 meatballs

1 lb. ground lamb
1 T fresh oregano
1 clove garlic, minced
zest from one lemon
2 T plain, whole fat yogurt
1/4 c bread crumbs
salt & pepper

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Put all ingredients in a mixing bowl and mix with your hands or a spoon.  Be careful not to overmix, as you don't want to toughen the meat.  The mixture should be sticky in your hands.  Roll the meat into 1 inch balls and place on cookie sheet.  Bake at 400 for about 17 minutes.  I flipped mine in the middle of cooking just to given them a nice even crust.  Remove from oven and let sit for at least 5 min.

While they are baking, I like to make my yogurt sauce and cut up raw veggies.

Yogurt Sauce:
1 cup plain, whole fat yogurt
juice from half a lemon (if you have a really juicy lemon, you may want to use less...you don't want it too acidic)
1 T fresh mint
salt and pepper to taste

Place all ingredients in a small dish and let sit so the flavors marry.

After the meatballs are out of the oven, place your pita on a cookie sheet (I like to use Ezekiel Whole Grain Pockets).  I cut mine in quarters, but you could half them or keep them whole if you wanted.  I only used about 3 pita pockets for the two of us.  After the meatballs are done, just pop these babies into the oven and let them warm - about 2 or 3 minutes.  Just watch that they don't get too crunchy - you want them on the softer side.

I like to serve these Greek-style with lettuce, tomato and red onion.  You could throw some feta and olives on the platter if you really wanted to, as well.  I cut up some carrots to serve this time.  Assemble all of the food on a platter and serve family style. 

If you have kids that like bread, meatballs and raw veggies - what a fun and non-traditional way to serve dinner!  They'll think something special is going on if you just set the platter down and let them dig in!  That's what we did.....who needs utensils, it's summertime!!

Slainte! (as the Irish would say, Cheers!)
XoXo,
Nicole

Our trip to Ireland was absolutely amazing!  The views, the people, the music and the food were more than we could have ever hoped for.  While we did indulge a bit in typical Irish fare (think fish 'n chips, cottage pie, etc) we also found some fantastic seafood.  Given that we traveled along the coast, there was always fresh seafood available. 

Unlike years ago, the Irish have really cleaned up their eating habits (Ireland was never known for it's cuisine!).  Almost every restaurant/pub we went to took great pride in the fact that they used locally sourced meats, veggies and seafood.  Often they would list where they got these items from in their menus.  While we couldn't guarantee that every cut of meat was grass fed or every vegetable grown without pesticides (although many of them indicated they were), the food was always fresh and clean tasting.

Since I'm still getting adjusted to being back home, recipes will follow.  Until then, enjoy some of the deliciousness we ate(;

Of course, no meal would be complete without a pint of Guinness.  We had plenty of that too!

I hope you enjoy these pictures....I'll be recreating some of my favorites for you on the blog in the upcoming weeks!

Enjoy!
XoXo,
Nicole

The first time I had lamb I was living in California with an Iranian Jewish family.  It was my first (and only to this point in my life) Passover Sedar.  It was roasted, so delicious and tender, not at all what I thought it would taste like.  The only other experience I had with lamb was the dinner entree we served at a restaurant I used to waitress at in high school.  There it looked unappetizing, especially with the mint jelly packets it was served with.  Thank goodness the first time eating it was a positive experience, or I may never have learned to love it the way I do.

When I first cooked lamb, I put a shoulder roast in the crock pot.  Afterall, what's easier than a crock pot?   It was so.amazingly.delicous.  I don't make it nearly as often as I like, mainly because it's pricey and not always accessible.  A couple weekends ago my husband and I came across a farmer selling lamb at our winter farmer's market.  They only accepted cash, and I had very little, so I sprung for the ground lamb instead of the rack of lamb.  Not the same, by the way, but still tasty!

If you've never eaten lamb, I would suggest rack of lamb or a roast for your first experience as ground lamb doesn't do it justice.  However, if you are cooking it for the first time I've got a simple recipe that will go with either ground lamb or roast.   It is actually pretty simple to cook rack of lamb as well, but I understand that might be a bit intimidating for your first time! 

Lamb has been known to be higher in cholesterol, so I wouldn't suggest eating it everyday, but the other vitamins and minerals you get from it make up for those times you decide to indulge.  Lamb actually has a high nutritional value and is a good source of vitamin B12, zinc and iron.   Did I mention it's delicious?

Greek Pitas with Lamb  serves 4
adapted from Women's Health
1 lb ground lamb, or a 2 lb roast
1 cucumber, diced
1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 red onion, sliced thin
1 pint kalamata or other Greek olive
1 package feta cheese, crumbled
1 lemon
2 T olive oil
salt & pepper to taste
1 package whole wheat pitas (could substitute gluten-free, if needed)

Brown your ground lamb and drain the fat, or if you are cooking the roast, cook in a crock pot on low for 6-8 hours.
Cut up all of your veggies, place in a bowl with the feta.  Mix the juice from one lemon, olive oil, salt & pepper and pour over veggies/cheese.  Let marinate for 30 min.

Assemble everything over a pita.  Enjoy!

 

Easy as pie and the perfect Spring or Summer dinner. 

Have you eaten lamb before?  If not, is it something you think you'll experiment with?  If so, leave us a comment and tell us about it!

XO,
Nicole