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Recipe Detail Page
Lamb with Fresh Herb & Lemon Salad
Spring 2014
North African in origin with lots of heat, harissa is a paste usually found in cans or jars in Middle Eastern stores. Recipes vary with the region and family preparing it. Here we’ve modified it slightly and kept it simple yet flavourful by making a dried spice rub. If you’ve got more time, use cumin and coriander whole seeds instead of ground, and toast and grind them with the caraway seeds before adding the remaining spices.
Makes 4 servings
2 tsp (10 mL) ground cumin
1 tsp (5 mL) ground coriander
1 tsp (5 mL) caraway seed
½ tsp (2 mL) hot chili flakes
½ tsp (2 mL) sweet smoked paprika
½ tsp (2 mL) salt
8 lamb loin chops, about 2 lbs (1 kg)
1 cup (250 mL) mixed microgreens or colourful sprouts or coarsely chopped herbs such as parsley, chives and mint
1 lemon
3 tbsp (45 mL) olive oil, divided
Freshly ground pepper
2 red peppers, cut into strips
1 Stir cumin with coriander, caraway seed, chili flakes, paprika and salt. Sprinkle over both sides of chops. Set aside.
2 Place greens or sprouts in a medium bowl or toss herbs together. Finely grate 1 tsp (5 mL) peel from lemon and squeeze out 2 tsp (10 mL) juice. Whisk in 1 tbsp (15 mL) oil, salt and pepper. Set both aside.
3 Heat 1 tbsp (15 mL) oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add red peppers, season with salt then stir-fry until peppers are lightly charred, about 3 minutes. Keep warm, covered in a bowl, while cooking lamb. There is no need to clean frying pan.
4 Heat remaining oil in frying pan over medium-high heat. Add chops and cook until deep golden brown and just pink on the inside, 3 to 4 minutes a side. Toss greens with lemon vinaigrette. To serve, place 2 chops on each dinner plate. Mound salad on top and divide peppers between plates.
Makes 4 servings