Ground Lamb and Greens

While at the grocery store over the weekend, I found a package of organic ground lamb in the meat department and thought "This sounds delicious, i could really go for a gyro or Greek meatballs!"  So I put the package in my cart and continued shopping.  Well, as it turns out.  When I got home I realized I had forgotten to pick up feta cheese and since I only make one trip for groceries per week and didn't feel like going back out, I was left to come up with a different tasty use for the ground meat.

As luck would have it, I am rather happy to have forgotten the feta and deciding to ditch the original plan.  Why?  Let me tell you.  I looked into other uses for ground lamb and several different curry-inspired dishes came up.  While none of them looked particularly appealing as they were and I did not have most of the ingredients they called for, it was time to get creative.  Thus a rather easy, delicious dinner was born.

As you may have seen before, I enjoy making a quick curry-style dish out of chick peas (garbanzo beans), stewed tomatoes, and curry powder.  It cooks up fast and is rather tasty over rice.  It is also a nutrient-packed, vegetarian dish I make rather often so I already have my go-to jar of curry spice in the pantry.

I used the lamb mixture for 2 different meals.  The first meal consisted of a warmed piece of whole grain naan, tzatziki sauce, and home cooked greens (the Trader Joe's Spicy Spinach Blend worked wonderfully for this).  It kind of reminded me of a curry-inspired gyro... do those exist?  Well, if they didn't before they do now.

The second meal was even simpler.  I heated the curried lamb on the stove and popped the rice into the microwave (Trader Joe's Jasmine Rice- pre-prepared and in the freezer section).  Quite possibly the epitome of laziness, you take the bag out of the box, put it in the microwave on high for 3 minutes, and it's ready to serve... no additional pots to clean, no measuring, and no waiting for water to boil.  It is a wonderful product.  Then the rice went into the bowl followed by the leftover lamb mixture and was served with a side of grapes. 

So now for the recipes:

Curried Ground Lamb

1lb Ground Lamb (I used organic, but it's your choice)
1 medium onion, diced (minus a small amount for the greens)
~1 inch fresh ginger, peeled and minced (reserve a few pieces for the greens)

~1 tsp crushed garlic

1 pinch cinnamon

Curry powder (amount to taste)

1 can whole peeled tomatoes, crushed a bit

Brown lamb with onion. When lamb begins to cook, add ginger and garlic.  Continue cooking the mixture until lamb is browned. Drain fat. Add curry powder and cinnamon, let cook about a minute, stirring regularly.  When spices are evenly distributed, add can of tomatoes. Cover and cook until tomatoes are cooked through and liquid is mostly evaporated. 

Cooked Greens

Trader Joe's spicy spinach blend (or other greens meant for cooking)

Honey

Extra virgin olive oil

Rice vinegar

Minced ginger

Black pepper

Diced onion

Crushed garlic

Cook onion in olive oil until sweating.  Add vinegar, honey, pepper, garlic, and ginger. Mix and cook until onions are more wilted. Add greens toward end and cook until wilted. Mix well and serve immediately.