Grilled Marinated Lamb

I have found a new meat to love, and that meat is lamb. Wow- I never knew it had such a rich flavor until I made some for St. Paddy's day. Now I am wiser and am trying to find new ways to incorporate it into the rotation.

Granted, it is another red meat, and we generally try to steer clear of eating too many heavy meats, but the nice thing about lamb is it generally comes in small sizes. At least, the cuts I choose to pay for are small!

Last night I used Greek inspiration- at least I think it was Greek- to prep the meat. After an hour of marinating and then about 15-20 minutes on the grill, we had a really tasty, tender, medium-rare main course. Served up with lemon feta couscous and spinach salad with green olives and more feta, we ate and enjoyed every last bite!


Greek Inspired Marinated, Grilled Lamb

• 1 C. Plain Yogurt
  
• 1 Large Clove Garlic, minced
  
• Juice of 1/2 Lemon
  
• 1 tsp. Dried Oregano
  
• 1 tsp. Black Pepper
  
• 2 Lamb Chops, bone in

1. In a medium to large bowl, combine all ingredients except the lamb. Blend until well mixed.
   
2. Coat the lamb chops with the yogurt mixture and place in the bowl with the marinade.
   
3. Let the chops sit, in the fridge, for at least an hour.
   
4. Heat your grill to medium-high heat- or like our grill which is either kind of hot or flames licking up super hot.
   
5. Cook the chops on one side for about 10 minutes, and then flip to cook for another 10 or so to cook through. Check it often towards to the to decide when it is done for you- rare all the way to well done.

Greek Inspired Orzo

I bought a whole bunch of feta recently for a nice salad, and had a bunch left over. What to do, what to make? Stuffed chicken? Nah. A salad? Too wimpy for this night. Regular pasta with yummy toppings? Boring. Something with lamb or another red meat? I didn't have those things. Hmmmm....

I did a little poking around on the ol' Internet to see what I could find. I borrowed from a whole gaggle of recipes and came up with a Greek inspired smorsgabord that was tasty and filling. It was simple and easy and was a really good leftover dish. Yum!


Greek Inspired Orzo

• 1/2 Box Orzo pasta
  
• 1 Garlic Clove, minced
  
• 1/4 C. Chopped Onion
  
• 1 Large Tomato, chopped
  
• 1 Small Can Sliced Olive
  
• 4-5 Artichoke Hearts, quartered
  
• 2-3 Small Cooked Mild Italian Sausages, sliced
  
• Olive Oil
  
• 1/2 to 1 C. Crumbled Feta Cheese

1. In a medium pot, cook the orzo according to the package.
   
2. In a separate medium saute pan, put in a little olive oil and saute the onions and garlic.
   
3. Add in the tomato and cook over medium to reduce it down.
   
4. Pour in some water if it is getting too dry in the pan. Add the olives, artichokes, and sausage and heat through.
   
5. At the end of cooking, pour in any desired olive oil to moisten the mixture. This is totally subjective to your tastes.
   
6. Crumble in the feta and give it a stir to get it a little melty.
   
7. At this point, your orzo should be drained and put back into its original sauce pot. Pour in the sausage mixture to the orzo pot and mix well. Serve warm with extra feta on top!

Greek Chicken Salad & Lemon Cous Cous

I mentioned in my last post, I have been a super slacker in the kitchen this week. I had to snap out of it last night- I mean, it is the weekend where I have tons of time to cook and I was once again out of ideas.

We did however have some great raw ingredients to work with, so I I pushed myself for a new dinner. Feta cheese, green olives, spinach, and Greek dressing worked together for a really great meal. Hubby can't make it through a meal without a starch, so along side the healthy salad, I made a quick cous cous meal. I wish I had more lemon juice- a little more tang would have been nice.

I'd like to put down on the record that hubby lit the grill and I went out and endured grilling in sub-freezing temperatures. That's right, I'm hearty New Englander baby!


As Grilled Chicken Greek Salad

• 1 Chicken Breast
  
• 1/2 C. Greek Dressing
  
• Fresh Spinach
  
• 3 Medium Tomatoes, cut into large slices
  
• Green Olives, cut in half
  
• Feta Cheese
  
• Greek Dressing

1. Marinade chicken breast in the 1/2 C. of dressing for 1-2 hours in the fridge.
   
2. Grill the chicken until cooked through but still moist. Remove from grill and when safe to touch, slice into long pieces to top salad.
   
3. Arrange the spinach, tomato, green olives, chicken, and feta on the plate. Drizzle with Greek dressing to taste.

Lemon Cous Cous

• 1 C. Water
  
• 1 C. Plain Cous Cous
  
• 2 Tbsp. Lemon Juice (either fresh squeezed or another 2+ Tbsp. would have made this better.)
  
• 1-2 Tbsp. Pine Nuts, toasted
  
• Black Pepper to taste
  
• Olive Oil to moisten cooked pasta

1. Bring water to a boil. Stir in cous cous, remove from heat, and cover.
   
2. After 5 minutes, cous cous should be cooked. Stir in lemon juice, a splash of oil, pine nuts, and a grind or two of pepper.
   
3. Enjoy warm with some feta sprinkled on top if desired.

Whole Wheat Sucks

Ok, so I bitched in an earlier post about how I'm never doing my normal shopping again at Whole Foods. Those stupid earthy crunchy people don't have the normal things a basic cook needs in her pantry. I was so flustered and frustrated when I went that I didn't find pizza dough, which I needed for Thursday's meal of Greek calzones.

I did find an awesome "Oh So Greek" lamb sausage there- which was crucial to the meal, so they aren't all bad I suppose.

So on Thursday I had to go to the store last minute to get the dough for these calzones. Well, all my normal chain had in stock on the shelves was whole wheat pizza dough.

What's with this whole wheat craze? It tastes SO BAD!!!! We've tried whole wheat pasta and whole wheat dough now, and they were really both terrible. Bread can be whole wheat, that's it. I understand folks are trying to be healthy, but why mess with a good things like delicious white bread pizza dough. It's just not right.

So, anyway, we made the calzones and they were only ok. The pictures came out pretty awful, so I'm not going to share.

I made a basic tzatziki sauce with yogurt, mint, cucumber, garlic and dill as well as a traditional marinara for dipping. The olives I included were green manzanillas, and I think they detracted as well. Black kalmata might have been better, or maybe just no olives. Overall it was just a blah meal- disappointing when I thought it would have been so good.

Greek Calzones

• Whole Wheat Pizza Dough (yuck)
  
• Lamb Sausage, cooked and sliced
  
• Feta Cheese
  
• 1 Tomato, chopped
  
• Green Olives, chopped

1. Pre heat oven and pizza stone according to tempurature on dough instructions.
   
2. Break the dough in two and roll each half out into a circle.
   
3. Fill with ingredients.
   
4. Fold over the dough circles and seal the edges, creating a half moon shape.
   
5. Brush with olive oil and bake until the dough is golden brown.
   
6. Serve with marinara and tzatziki sauce.