Greek Lamb Chops with lemon rice and cucumbers

What’s for dinner. Star date 07.18.2023. This is one of my favorite ‘go to’ meals, but I’ve never written it up. Thus I shall.

Plus, it’s REALLY easy. This is my Greek Lamb Chop with Basil/Parsley Saffron Lemon Rice with Quick Pickle Cucumbers.

Other than the marinade time (1 hour) this is a 30 minute dinner.

The Lamb:
You can use lamb chops or lamb shanks for this, they both are great. In a gallon ziplock bag, add 1 tbs of olive oil, juice of 1 lemon, 1 tbs of minced garlic, some kosher salt and fresh cracked black pepper and a good helping of oregano. Blend, and set aside. Room temp is fine so the lamb isn’t too cool.

The Rice:
Make the rice. In a pot (that you can cover), melt some butter, put in some turmeric, a small pinch of saffron, a tablespoon of Kerrygold butter, a little salt and crush in some black pepper.
add 1 1/2 cups of chicken broth, and 1 cup of jasmine rice. Add some fresh parsley and basil. Add the zest of one lemon. Set it to a medium high heat, once boiling, stir, cover and reduce to a low simmer for 15 minutes, then turn off to rest for 10 minutes.

The Cucumber Salad:
While the rice is cooking, do your quick pickle. Thin slice a cucumber (I had a GREAT one from my garden) and mix it with white wine vinegar and apple vinegar. Toss in some garlic and some crushed black pepper. Add salt if you like. Dice up some jarred roasted red bell pepper and toss it into the mix. Slice up some thin shaved red onion and stir it in.

Grill the lamb (pan sear could be OK).
On a medium-high heat, sear each side of the lamb for about 3-4 minutes, and then set aside to rest for 5 minutes.

Plate and serve. The goal is to do the timing so once the lamb is rested and ready to serve, everything else is done.