Lamb Chops

So I love lamb —particularly lamb chops---and a while back I decided to try the recipe that Mari posted but since I was in a hurry and I didn’t have all the ingredients, I changed it up a bit. (I should’ve taken a picture because it looked pretty too!) This recipe makes about 8 lamb chops.

Ingredients

8 lamb chops
1 tablespoon cumin seeds
1 tablespoon caraway seeds
3 tablespoons (lightly packed) fresh cilantro leaves
2 tablespoons crushed garlic
1 tablespoon paprika
1 teaspoon salt
½ tsp red pepper flakes
5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
½ tsp dried thyme (one day I dream of having a little herb and vegetable garden so I don’t have to rely on my dried herbs!)
1 tsp zaatar (this is a spice mixture of oregano, thyme, sesame seeds and some other spices. You can find green zataar at any Middle Eastern grocery store. It also tastes delicious on oven roasted potatoes)
½ cup chopped tomatoes
¼ cup chopped onions
1 tsp black pepper
½ tsp meat tenderizer

Preheat oven to 425F.

First, I crushed the cumin seeds in a mortar and pestle first but didn’t roast them. I added all the ingredients (except the tomatoes and onion and olive oil) to a bowl and mixed the ingredients. I coated the lamb chops with this mix and poured the oil on top of the chops and coated the chops with the oil.

I then lined a glass baking pan with foil and put the lamb chops on the foil. You can pour any marinade on top of the chops. Then slice onions and tomatoes in thin slices and put these on top of the chops. I sprinkled a tiny bit of zataar on top of the whole dish and then covered the dish with foil and put it in the oven.

Bake for 35-45 minutes.

Delicious and super simple. The lamb was juicy and very flavorful.

Maybe next time I will share my Thanksgiving experience too. Our halal turkey came from Detroit, feathers and all. Imagine 3 women (none of us ever having made a turkey) sitting there pulling out the feathers with eyebrow tweezers, knives, you name it. I have to say though—the turkey turned out pretty darn good at the end of the day!