Well, hello there!

Well, hello there!
Matt & I in Costa Rica over Christmas...So beautiful there!
It's simple. Really. We're a young married couple that loves cooking together. We always try to eat healthy and, if it's simple and doesn't break the bank, we're into that, too! We hope you'll visit often and tell us what you think about what we're cooking! We'd love to hear from you. Drop us a note, a suggestion or a recipe!













Friday, March 26, 2010

lamb chops

Did anyone ever watch that show growing up? Ya. I did. And I must say, our most recent dinner party made me feel guilty...sort of. OK. Not really. That show kind of got old quick, at least for me. I'm sure by the title and the first ramblings of this entry, that you know we made lamb for dinner this particular night. It was good. Real good. We were having some friends over and I decided to take things up a notch. We went super gourmet without being super unhealthy. In fact, this meal was SO healthy it verged on being ridiculous. Here's what we had.

Main Course:
Seared Spiced Lamb Shoulder Chops with Pistachio Gremolata, Israeli CousCous & Garlic Green Beans

Dessert:
Balsamic Marinated Strawberries with No-Sugar-Added Vanilla Yogurt & Pistachios

I told you it was healthy. And, I must say, I got the recipe for the Lamb from my beloved Cooking Light magazine....such a life-saver. I used the same ingredients, but changed the amounts and used shoulder chops, which are less expensive and larger.

Here's what you need for my rendition of this great meal:

INGREDIENTS
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
4 (8-ounce) lamb shoulder chops, bone in, trimmed of fat
Cooking spray
2 tablespoons finely chopped pistachios
2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
Grated rind of one lemon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 garlic clove, minced
1 Cup Israeli cous cous
2 Cups water
1 Package fresh-frozen green beans, follow directions for microwave


DIRECTIONS
-Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Combine first 5 ingredients; sprinkle evenly over both sides of lamb. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add lamb to pan; cook 4 minutes on each side or until desired degree of doneness. We had ours medium (cook to 160 degrees).

-While lamb cooks, combine pistachios and the remaining ingredients; sprinkle over lamb.

-Place cous cous and water into a sauce pan. Bring to a boil, cover and let simmer until cous cous is puffy and most of the liquid is gone.

Oh.My.Goodness. So good. Really, truly. I'm so glad it was delicious. It's always a gamble cooking something for the first time...especially when you're having company.

I urge you to try it. It's so easy, so healthy and super duper quick (the whole meal only took about 35 minutes...no joke. DO IT. TONIGHT).

Oh! I almost forgot the dessert (under 150 cals by the way!)

Place 1 package fresh strawberries, halved or quartered, into a large mixing bowl.
Pour 1-2 Tbs. balsamic vinegar over berries. Refrigerate a minimum of 30 mins., or until ready to serve.
Once you're ready to serve, place 1/2 cup mix into a bowl or ramekin, top with 2 Tbs. Kroger CarbMaster vanilla yogurt and 1/2 Tbs. chopped pistachios.

I know, I know. Vinegar and berries sounds like a recipe for disaster. But, the tartness (is that even a word?) brings out the sweetness in the berries. Matt was a little werided out by the idea, but once he tried it, he said it was like a "dream". Whatever that means! He's so funny!
I must say, we got to talking with our friends and after they left, I remembered dessert. I'm SUCH a bad hostess! I guess the upside of that is that we had more for ourselevs? Am I even allowd to say that? Is that horrible? Oh well. We'll make it again.
That's all for now! Enjoy!

1 comment:

  1. Yummy Yummy Yummy!! I have been using Cooking Light online the past few weeks and I love their stuff.

    ReplyDelete