Day 7

Menu #7:

Breakfast: Oatmeal ...again :)
Lunch: Asian Salad
Dinner: Lamp chops with mint sauce and Roasted Cauliflower and Broccoli Soup

Day 6 Assessment:

I want a freaking drink. And I didn't drink enough water (it's the weekend ... kid wrangling doesn't always allow it). BLAH.


Asian Salad



Ok, real quick: leftover chicken from last night. Salad is cabbage, spinach, bean sprouts, snap peas and peanuts.

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Asian Peanut Dressing

• 1 slice ginger (quarter size piece)
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 teaspoon soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon peanut butter
• 1/3 cup rice vinegar
• 1/3 cup light olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 1 pinch red pepper flakes
• salt and pepper

Blend and add to salad beforehand to get the flavors to break down the cabbage beforehand

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Notes: WONDERFUL! I caved and bought some chow mein noodles to add some crunch to the salad so that was an awesome addition. Very Flavorful combination all around.

Lamp chops with mint sauce and Roasted Cauliflower and Broccoli Soup

THIS was mostly a fail. I thought it started out great and Dave decided it was too bland so he added spices and we ended up with a Curried Soup with lamb. Not too bad, but not the flavor I was going for!

The original soup recipe: Roasted Cauiflower Soup from Elana's Pantry and Quick Lamb Roast with Mint Sauce from No Recipe

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Roasted Cauliflower & Broccoli Soup

1 large head cauliflower

1 small head broccoli

4 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon celtic sea salt

1 large onion, diced

4 cups water or stock

Garlic to taste

Rosemary to taste

1. Place whole head of cauliflower in a Pyrex baking dish
2. Rub cauliflower/broccoli with 2 tablespoons olive oil and sprinkle with salt
3. Add ½ cup water to the dish
4. Bake uncovered at 350° for 1 ½ hours, or until a knife cuts easily through the core
5. Remove cauliflower from oven and allow to cool
6. Coarsely chop and set aside
7. Heat remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat
8. Add onion and cook until soft and translucent, about 15 minutes
9. Add cauliflower and 4 cups water or stock
10. Simmer until cauliflower is very soft, about 10 minutes
11. In a blender puree, in small batches until smooth
12. Transfer back to pot and bring to a simmer - flavor more to taste

ADDED: Indian seasoning, tons more garlic, red pepper flake

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Lamp chops (nix the mint sauce ... not worth it IMO)

for rub:
1 Tbs kosher salt (halve if using table salt)
1/2 tsp black peppercorns
1 tsp fennel
1 tsp cumin
Garlic Garlic

Remove the lamb from the refrigerator about an hour before starting to bring it up to room temperature.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Put the salt, black pepper, fennel and cumin in a spice grinder, or use a mortar and pestle to roughly grind

Rub the outside of the lamb with the grated garlic. Then sprinkle about half the rub onto one side of the lamb in a relatively thick layer. Heat a cast iron skillet over medium heat until very hot. Add a splash of oil and put the lamb, seasoned side down. Sprinkle the remaining rub on the other side of the lamb. Fry until golden brown (about 5-6 minutes) then flip. Put the pan in the oven and cook until an instant read thermometer reads 135 degrees F for rare (15-20 minutes). Remove the pan form the oven and let it sit uncovered for 15 minutes. This relaxes the proteins in the meat allowing the juices to reabsorb into the fibers, which keeps the meat moist when you cut it.

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Notes: Everything was good on it's own! Even after combining the lamb into the soup, it was still good. Alice ate about 10 bites. She kept calling the lamb in her soup "meatballs" LOL