An extravagance, indeed (look at the price of the lamb chops!). But once you allow that, you’ve done something good for yourself and for your lucky diners. The “Lamb Chops with Farro, Arugula, and Lemon-Thyme Vinaigrette,” from the January/February 2015 issue of Cooking Light, is beautiful -- in taste and in its simple preparation.
Rich, rare lamb cooks in 10 minutes on the stove top. The recipe tells us to then heat up some precooked farro(!), but come on! That’s a shortcut we don’t need. I simmered my own farro (30 minutes?) in the background, while I worked on other stuff. No one needs precooked grains, I tell you.
The warm, cooked farro wilts the baby arugula, and the lemony shallot dressing is perfect. Delight in your luxury, here: chewy, ample farro + sharp arugula + lemony shallots + rich lamb. Sigh.
And since I’m indulging in this roasty, toasty mood, I also fussed with some sweet potatoes: the “Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Pecans,” from VegKitchen with Nava Atlas. A long, hot roast for 50 minutes. I decreased the ingredient amounts to make a bit less than 6 servings (no problem). The ingredients that pulled me into this recipe were the pecans, the coconut oil, the maple syrup, the coconut sugar, and the hemp seeds: a nice mix of crunchy and sweet.
I’ve dipped into the “coconut sugar” hype, here. It’s a natural sugar with a lower glycemic index and certain nutrients and dietary fiber that white sugar doesn’t have … but is it a health food? Not really. It’s still sugar, folks. But I’ll tell you that when combined with the coconut oil and the maple syrup in the oven, the coconutty smells will make you giggle with glee.
After the potatoes roast, the pecans and the hemp seeds provide a welcome crunch. If you make these potatoes, you’ll feel like you cooked the right thing at the right time. Enjoy.
PRICES:
Lamb Loin Chops (1.9 lbs.) = $41.78
Baby Arugula (2 oz.) = .83¢
Garnet Sweet Potatoes (6 cups) = $4.68
PREP TIMES: eat your lamb and farro after 45 minutes of prep; sweet potatoes take a bit longer
TASTES: a tangy lemon-shallot dressing complements chewy farro, sharp arugula, and rich lamb; sweet potatoes get coconutty when coated with coconut oil, maple syrup, and coconut sugar, and pecans and hemp seeds give you a crunch
Next time, I’ll keep open my copy of the January/February 2015 issue of Cooking Light, to cook the “Acorn Squash Egg-in-the-Hole.” A bit frivolous? Perhaps. Come back to my site next week to witness all the fun.
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