So off I went to Trader Joe's. I wasn't sure what I wanted with the lamb, but I knew I'd find something interesting there. And I certainly did. The first thing I grabbed was a bag of chopped, prewashed rainbow Swiss Chard. For those of you who have never eaten chard, I have to say, you are truly missing something wonderful. First of all, it is beautiful. Red, yellow, and orange stems and veins running through deep green leaves. It looks a bit like spinach, or more so, like beet greens, and sautes up beautifully. Chard is also a member of that crazy chenopod family, you remember, the same family that brings us quinoa! Chard is really pretty easy to grow, and if you have garden space, is totally worth planting. You will get about three harvests from it. It's also a crop you can plant twice; once in spring, and again in fall. Chard is high in vitamins A, K and C, and has minerals, fiber and protein.
Ooops, sorry, I got distracted for a bit. There is a beautiful black and white woodpecker outside my window eating the suet cake. Ok, back to dinner...
So, I have the rainbow chard. And the lamb chops. I got rib chops, the ones that look like little Tbone steaks. Now, I needed a starch. I found these cute little packs of whole grains that they are selling. They have barley, bulgar, and farro. I chose farro. Farro is actually the name of the grain of certain species of wheat; emmer, einkorn, and spelt. It is basically like wheatberries. (Remember them from a previous post?) The bags they have at TJ's are partially cooked, so they only take about 10-15 minutes to boil up. I cooked it in some chicken broth for a little flavor.
I put some olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper, garlic and a bit of fresh rosemary (The only plant I manage to keep alive in my kitchen) on the lamb chops. I broiled them. I would normally grill them, but since it's about ZERO degrees out there, I chose to stay inside.
The chard, I sauteed in a blend of olive and vegetable oil, with fresh chopped garlic, salt and pepper.
I put it all together, and VOILA! It was beautiful, and absolutely delicious.. I happened to have a couple of roasted tomatoes in the fridge, so I put them on the lamb.
A glass (or two) of a big red from Argentina, and I was in heaven.
As you know, you can always substitute another protein (beef, chicken, etc.) if you don't like lamb. If you are vegetarian, cook the farro in water or vegetable stock, and do some balsamic marinated grilled tofu. That would rock, too.
Until next time, my friends...
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