Friday, May 3, 2013

Lamb Curry with Spinach and Chickpeas

I was talking online with a friend that lives in Florida about how we'd splurged and bought a boneless leg of lamb, but that I was ok with it because we'd get at least three meals out of it.  He gasped in horror and informed me  that the last time he'd priced that cut, it'd cost over $20 a pound and would have cost about $60 to buy the roast.  And then I gasped in horror right back!  Here in the DC area, I was able to buy my splurgy roast (just short of 3 pounds of boneless leg of lamb) for $21 total.  Which still is a splurge - but it's not insane.

So, if I am talking about lamb and prices in your area are as ridiculous as they are where my friend lives, please know I have not utterly taken leave of my senses!  For us, that roast actually added up to four meals, with zero waste - that's just about $2.50 in meat per person per meal. Not the most frugal, but not terrible either, especially as we are actively working on confining our eating out days to planned social activities and not just because we feel like treating ourselves or don't get around to making dinner.

Sadly, I was bad about taking pictures of all the lamby goodness.  On the first night, I simply roasted it following this recipe for Roasted Leg of Lamb.  It was incredibly good - rather like a good prime rib, actually. Tender, medium rare, and delicious with roasted red potatoes and roasted asparagus.

The next night was one of those 'too busy to cook' days, and we just put together a huge dinner salad, hacked off a portion of the roast and cubed it, scooping up some of the flavorful jelled sauce in the bottom of the dish, and quickly sauted those - the sauce glazed around the cubes, and we used them to top off our salads.

The last two meals involved this curry recipe - it made enough to feed us well for two days and because curry is one of  those things that tastes even better after an overnight in the refrigerator, not one bit of this felt like we were tolerating leftovers. If you don't used canned products, this isn't the recipe for you, but you probably have methods for adjusting recipes, right?  This makes a spicy curry - adjust seasonings as you need to! There is no one right way with curry.



Lamb, Spinach and Chickpea Curry

1 lb lamb, cut in 1/2" cubs (we used leftover leg of lamb)
1 T. fat (I used tallow - ghee, lard, or olive oil would also be fine)
1 onion, diced
2 cans chickpeas (or equivalent dried chickpeas, cooked)
1 can organic diced tomatoes
1 small can diced green chiles
1 small can organic tomato paste
1 bag baby spinach
1 T. cumin
1 t. coriander seed
3 T. curry powder (I used 1 T each of three Spice House curry blends I had on hand: Garam Masala, Vindaloo, and Rogan Josh)
1 t. cayenne
1 can coconut milk (or 1 cup thick yogurt)

Saute lamb cubes and onion until browned and tender.  Add chickpeas, diced tomatoes, and green chiles, and seasonings.  If too dry, add a little water or broth, and let simmer for at least 30 minutes (longer is fine), stirring occasionally.  Taste and adjust seasonings as needed.

Stir in tomato paste, add spinach (as it wilts, stir it into the curry), and simmer for another 15 minutes or so.  Stir in coconut milk or yogurt, let curry heat, but be careful not to scorch, and serve.

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On an entirely different subject, I wanted to give a big shout out and thank you.  Last month, the lovely Margaly Guerrero of Pagan Culture sponsored the Witches in Fiction 2013 ... To the Bone creative blog hop.  So many creative artisans contributed prizes to the hop, and I was blessed to win a beautiful hand polished cedar wand from Familiar Creations by Mina.

I love that the organic shape is retained (and it actually fits perfectly in my somewhat mangled paw) - it feels very light, almost bouyant, and warm to the touch.  Mina packed it very carefully and tucked in a bit of lavender and rosemary, so even opening the tube to see it was a sensory delight.

So, thank you so much, Mina! I love it.  And thank you, too, Margaly, for bringing us together. :)

Shared with: 
Farm Girl Blog Fest, Feathered Nest Friday, Foodie Friday, Foodtastic Friday, Freedom Fridays, Friday Favorites, Frugal Friday, Gluten-Free Friday, LHITS DIY Friday, Old Fashioned Friday, Pin Me Linky Party, Rattlebridge Farm Foodie Friday, Shine On Friday, Show and Tell Friday.      
A Favorite Thing, Get Schooled Saturday, Saturday SHOW-licious Showcase, Show & Tell Saturday, Sweet Saturday, Weekend Potluck, Your Great Idea.
Creative Bloggers Party & Hop, Creative HomeAcre Hop, Sunday School Blog Carnival, Sunday Show Off Linky Party, Think Pink Sunday   
Busy Monday, Clever Chicks Blog Hop, Craft-O-Maniac Monday, Frugal Crafty Home Blog Hop, Gluten-Free Weekly Menu Plan, Homemade Mondays, Homestead Barn Hop, Made By You Monday, Make It Yourself MondayMaking Your Home Sing Monday, Manic Monday, Marvelous Monday, Mealtime Monday, Melt in Your Mouth Monday, Mix It Up Monday, Monday Funday, Mop It Up MondayOn the Menu Monday, SusieQTPie's Recipe Link Up, Thank Goodness It's Monday.
Anti-Procrastination Tuesday, Family Table TuesdayHow-To Tuesday, Slightly Indulgent Tuesday, Tasty Tuesday, Tempt My Tummy Tuesday, Time to Sparkle, Totally Tasty Tuesday, Tutorial Tuesday, You're Gonna Love It Tuesday.
Allergy Free Wednesday, Creative Spark Down Home Blog Hop, Flusters Creative Muster, Frugal Days - Sustainable Ways, Gluten-Free Wednesday, Party Wave Wednesday, Penny Pinching Party, Show & Tell Wednesday, Two Girls & A Party, Waste Not Want Not Wednesday, Weekly Homemaking Party, What's Cooking Wednesday, Whatever Goes Wednesday, Wheat-Free Wednesday, Whimsy Wednesday, Whole Foods Wednesday, Wicked Awesome Wednesday, Wildcrafting Wednesday, Wonderful Food Wednesday, Works For Me Wednesday, Wow Me Wednesday.          


  

8 comments:

  1. the curry looks very warming. Last I went to buy lamb, I was told they only have it in, in the fall when the local farmers are slaughtering. I'll see come then what the prices are here. I'm hoping cheap!
    Thank you for sharing this on Foodie Friday

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  2. Thanks so much for joining in this week!

    xo
    Claudia

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  3. This sounds amazing! I love curry and I've had lamb once and it is great!! I'm going to try this. Thank you for linking up at SHOW-licious Craft Showcase!

    http://sew-licious.blogspot.com

    Marti

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  4. I love the addition of chickpeas! Thanks for linking up at our Gluten Free Fridays party! I have tweeted and pinned your entry to our Gluten Free Fridays board on Pinterest! :)

    Hope that your week is fantastic!

    Cindy from vegetarianmamma.com

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  5. I'm just thinking of trying my hand at roasts - it's a British tradition but one I haven't really had the confidence to do in my household - thanks for the ideas to stretch one meal into several. See you next time at the Creative HomeAcre Hop http://mumtopia.blogspot.com/2013/05/creative-home-acre-hop-co-hosting-2.html
    BB from the UK

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  6. You know, I don't honestly know if I've ever had lamb or not. I don't I ever have! But your picture sure makes it look yummy! Thanks so much for linking up!

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  7. Looks yummy! Thanks so much for sharing this on Waste Not Want Not Wednesday, I’ve pinned it.

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