Slow Cooker Lamb with Spinach and Artichoke Hearts

There was a time when I thought of lamb as a highly exotic and rare meat, highly unlikely to be available even if I wanted to buy it.  But as we locally source most of our meat - and as blessed as we are to live near D.C., where many, many food cultures come together, lamb is becoming a relatively common occurrence on our menu.  That is is not thoroughly mainstream seems to be an advantage - it hasn't gone the way of cows and pigs and chickens, in that it isn't factory farmed under scary and sad conditions, so it's easier to find hormone-free, ethically raised lamb.

Shoulder Loin Chops are a relativel inexpensive cut - lots of meat on each chop, although there are also a lot of little bones to look out for - and they do well in the slow cooker.  This is a simple treatment.  I sauteed spinach and artichokes on the side, but we ended up dishing this up in bowls to capture all the wonderful broth, so I probably could have just done it all in the crockpot in the first place.  Good, tummy-warming soupy meal here, just perfect for a night full of freezing rain.

Slow Cooker Shoulder Loin Lamb
(serves 2)

2 shoulder loin lamb chops
2 onions, cut in chunks
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups homemade chicken or beef bone broth
Sea salt to taste
Cracked black pepper, to taste
Rosemary, to taste
Thyme, to taste
Red Pepper Flakes, to taste

Layer one of the onions in the bottom of the crock pot.  Place the chops on top of the onion, then top with the remaining onion.  Add seasonings, then pour broth over all and cook on low for 6-8 hours.

Sauteed Spinach and Artichoke Hearts
(serves 2)

2 cups frozen artichoke hearts, thawed
1 bag fresh spinach
2 T. butter, lard, or coconut oil

Heat fat in large pan until melted and sizzling slightly.  Add artichokes and sauteed until tender and lightly browned.  Add bag of spinach, and cook, stirring constantly until spinach has wilted.  Serve as a side dish or, as we did, in a bowl with the lamb and onions and broth.

To cap off the meal, we made up some whipped cream and finished off our leftover Almond Flour Pancakes with some apple butter made by a friend of ours.  Yum!

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