Turkish Lamb with Warm Kumara, Chickpea and Mint Salad
I love Turkish spices like cumin, paprika, cinnamon and coriander, with lamb and chickpeas.
Ingredients
Salad
- 800 g kumara or sweet potato skin on, cut into 2.5cm chunks
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 teaspoon liquid honey
- 1 punnet cherry tomatoes
- 420 g chickpeas one can, rinsed and drained
- 100 g baby spinach leaves
- 30 g dates about 5-6, chopped
- ¾ cup mint leaves sliced
Dressing
- 2-3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon liquid honey
- 2 tablespoons parsley finely chopped
Lamb
- 1 tablespoon ground coriander
- 1 ½ tablespoons ground cumin
- 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 600 g lamb steaks
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 200 degC/390 Fahrenheit. Line an oven tray with baking paper.
- Toss kumara with olive oil and honey in prepared tray. Roast for 25 minutes until soft and caramelised.
- Combine all dressing ingredients in a small bowl and mix well.
- When kumara has 15 minutes cook time remaining, mix ground coriander, cumin, paprika, cinnamon, black pepper and salt together and coat lamb. Heat a good drizzle of olive oil on the barbecue hotplate, or in a large fry-pan on medium to high heat. Cook lamb for 2–3 minutes each side for medium rare, or until cooked to your liking. Set aside on a plate and cover with tinfoil to rest for 5–10 minutes.
- Keep barbecue hotplate hot, or return fry-pan to the heat with a drizzle of oil, and fry tomatoes for 1–2 minutes until skins are just starting to blister. Add chickpeas to warm through.
- Toss kumara with spinach, dates, mint and tomato-chickpea mix. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Slice lamb on an angle, against the grain.
- To serve, divide warm kumara, chickpea and mint salad on each plate, top with slices of lamb, and drizzle over dressing.
Notes
This perfect family meal from the My Food Bag test kitchen ticks all the boxes – quick, healthy, lots of vegetables, gluten-free, dairy-free, easy to make, popular with kids and adults. When the weather warms up, you could even fire the barbie up and barbecue the lamb. The Turkish spices taste amazing with the lamb – you’ll have to try it to see for yourself. Buying good quality lamb steaks like rump will ensure the meat is tender and easy to eat. This dish would also be great with venison.