New season spring lamb loins with parsley pesto and cauliflower mash

Sometimes when I get home from cooking for my clients I crave simple and nutritious dinners that can be made in flash with minimal cooking method. On the weekends I like to make a fresh pesto with whatever herbs I have left over or growing in my garden. I particularly like to use parsley which is not common but delicious and also rich in iron and cleans the blood too!

All the little spring lambs have found there may to my butcher and these grass-fed loins are exceptional when cooked medium so that they are pink inside. The cauliflower mash is great for a low carb option and a good source of daily dietary fibre.

My new cook Susan who is a naturopathy student and a fantastic source of knowledge told me that lamb is also excellent for breastfeeding mamma's.

So have your pesto ready to go and this can be made in 20 minutes for a quick healthy weeknight dinner!


2-4 lamb loins
Organic ghee
1/2 head cauliflower (prepped into florets)
1 teaspoon sea salt and peppercorns to season
Fresh cumin seeds

In a mortar and pestle prepare your sea salt, pepper and cumin mix, set aside

In saucepan put a steamer basket and cook the cauliflower for 10 minutes, remove the steamer basket add your sea salt and pepper cumin mix and some butter mash until resembling a potato mash.

Serve on a plate with pesto and the lamb loins

Take a fry pan and heat the ghee, add the lamb loins and cook for 5-6 minutes each side. When done set aside for a further 5 minutes

Lamb meatballs with cumin, parsley pesto and tomato eggplant, capsicum spicy sauce

Ah more meatballs, this time lamb, last night I gave a seminar to a group of girls that train with my friend Sarah from Pure Fitness Manly the title was smart eating for busy people, all the knowledge that I have on food and health at the end of the day needs to be translated into recipes, this is smart eating, cooking 80-90% of your food, consciously shopping, knowing where your ingredients are coming from. Health = food choices, Diet = how you prepare those foods and translate them into recipes.


1kg lamb mince (ask you butcher to do fresh)
1 tablespoon cumin seeds, ground in mortar and pestle (or ground cumin)
sea salt and pepper to season
1 tablespoon parsley pesto (recipe on blog with chicken meatballs)


tomato sauce

1 jar passata
2 cups chicken broth (stock)
1/2 yellow capsicum, cut into fine strips
4 baby eggplants (or 1 medium size eggplant) sliced finely
1/2 rd onion, diced finely
1 red chilli, diced finely
1 tablespoon ghee
1 carrot, diced into cubes
200g pumpkin, cut into cubes

Method

Preheat oven to 10 degrees
Take the lamb mince, cumin seeds, pesto and season in a bowl, mix with your hands very well, then roll into small balls, bake on in over for 20 minutes (should be a little pink on the inside)
On another baking tray place the eggplants and rub extra virgin olive oil into them and season again with sea salt and pepper

In a saucepan gently saute the red onion and chili in ghee, add the capsicum, and then the stock and tomato passata, pump kin and also carrot cook on lo heat for 20 minutes.

When the eggplant is cooked, cut up into small squares and then add to tomato sauce, stir around and serve with meatballs and some basmati or brown rice, these meatballs keep int he freezer really well I always make large batches of the sauce too so I have them ready to go for busy days.

Lamb, spinach , quinoa and white bean sumac puree

What a week, my car hit the dust and has been in the mechanic's all week, I caught a cab to get ingredients for a catering gig and kept smiling, (!) I have been on foot, borrowing friend's cars if absolutely necessary and using the opportunity to be indoors and focus on planning workshops and recipe development. Also of course I have been cooking, cooking and dreaming and thinking about food. Sometimes been without the freedom of a car brings you back to the important stuff in life.
This recipe is dedicated to my late father, as it is father's day this Sunday and he is in my mind and heart everyday but especially this week. So at this sad time for me, I pour that (e)motion into my craft; cooking. My father was a coeliac and very passionate about food, good health and nature he inspires me in my work today.
This dish is very delicious and the sumac and white bean puree brings a smooth and salty taste to the dish. Enjoy and hopefully you may make this meal for a father or loved one.

1 lamb back strap (if cooking for 4, do 2)
1 cup cooked quinoa
1/2 bunch spinach, finely chopped
sea salt and pepper to season
extra virgin olive oil

white bean puree
1 can cannelloni beans
1 clove garlic
1 lemon, juiced
1 tablespoon sumac (middle eastern berry)
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil


Method

Take all the puree ingredients and put into a food processor, buzz until smooth, taste, add salt and check it's balanced, slightly salty, and sour.

Season the lamb back strap with sea salt and pepper and rub oil on either side of the meat, turn the skillet or fry pan up high, then when hot add the lamb, cook for 3 minutes each side then rest for a further 10 minutes
In the same skillet/frypan throw in the finely chopped spinach and cook quickly for a few minutes, slice the lamb thinly it should be pink inside, on a plate lay the spinach first, then the quinoa and sliced lamb, add the puree around the plat so it looks good.

Serves 2

Slow Cooker + sunday night rainbow chard pasta with chicken

The slow cooker has been finally been unwrapped and brought out of it's box.
I actually purchased it a few months ago, my mother and I purchased them together, everyday the past two weeks I gaze up at it's home on a shelf up high.....
Tonight's the night and I have cooked up a delicious persian dish with lamb shanks dates and preserved lemons....



Persian Lamb Shanks Dates and Preserved Lemons with Potatoes slow cooker style.


1 t black pepper
1 t cumin
1 t tumneric
1 t ground cardamon
seasalt to taste

(you can cheat and use herbies spices persian spice mix)

4 lamb shanks
4 potatoes, cut into chunks
1 carrot, cut into chunks
1 cinnamon stick
6 fresh dates (seeds out)
1 preserved lemon diced finely
1 brown onion roughly diced
1 T harissa
1 T ghee

Brown onion and spices in ghee until translucent
Place in slowcooker
Seal lamb shanks for 3 minutes each side
Place all remaining ingredients into slow cooker and set for low....
The longer you cook the better overnight is ideal.


Rainbow chard chicken pesto pasta


1 pkt l'abruzzese gluten free pasta twists
4 stems rainbow chard (fresh in season)
2 T fresh basil pesto
2 chicken thigh fillets
2 yellow zuchiini's sliced finely


Fry chicken thigh fillet in ghee until cooked through
Cook pasta for around 8 minutes
Prep rainbow chard and slice up finely
Add rainbow chard and zuchinni to pasta in the last 2 minutes of cooking
Slice chicken thigh fillets
Drain pasta rainbow chard and zuchinni and pasta
Heat pesto and move through pasta and vegetables
Serve and place chicken on top


Pesto

1 bunch basil
1/2 cup pine nuts roasted on a skillet
1 clove garlic
2 T fresh grated parmesan
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

Put all ingredients into a food processor and process until smooth

You can freeze for later ....