So, one of my resolutions for 2014 was to try a new recipe once a week! This week’s recipe is pan seared lamb with roasted vegetables. I love to cook, but I live at home and my mom often cooks or I go out to eat, so as part of my resolution to lose weight this year as well as an attempt to expand my palette and learn a few new skills, I am going to attempt to cook something new every week. Some weeks it may be something as simple as making biscuits from scratch and other weeks (like this week) will feature an entire meal! Feel free to recommend some of your favorite recipes to me and let me know if you try to make any of the recipes I post! So, here we go:

*All ingredients are per person

Ingredients and Supplies:

• one lamb steak (if you prefer lamb chops, you will need two or three)
• one large lemon
• five sprigs of thyme
• three cloves of garlic
• half a cup of olive oil
• half a bunch of asparagus
• five fingerling potatoes
• half of a large container of baby bella mushrooms
• five to seven red pearl onions
• a container large enough to fit the lamb steaks, preferably with a lid
• a pan large and deep enough to fit the steaks
• a small sautee pan
• a large cookie sheet

Prepare all of the vegetables by washing and towel drying them. Cut the base of the asparagus off, removing the toughest part, peal the pearl onions and cut them as to create a flat edge, and chop the fingerling potatoes in cylindrical slices. Slice the baby bella mushrooms.

Heat your oven to 400 degrees.

On a large cookie sheet, place the asparagus, pealed pearl onions, and potatoes. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Now, remove your lamb from the refrigerator and let stand while preparing the marinade. Juice 1 large lemon, finely mince 4 medium cloves of garlic, and strip 5 sprigs of thyme-per steak. Combine these ingredients with the remainder of the olive oil (leaving aside 2 tablespoons for the mushrooms) in the container and add your lamb. Massage each steak with the marinade and place the lid on the container. You could prepare this mixture ahead of time and marinate your meat for as long as you would like. While I do not have a preference, if you prefer very tender meat, it may be a good idea to use a tenderizing mallet prior to marinating the steaks.

While your steaks are marinating, place your vegetables into the 400 degree oven for 15 minutes. Once you have reached 15 minutes, check on them and either remove them or allow them to cook for 5-10 more minutes, depending on your preference.

While your vegetables are in the final 10 minutes of cooking, place the baby bellas in a small frying pay on low-medium head with a couple of tablespoons of olive oil, stirring occasionally and moving to low heat once they appear done. While doing this, place your steaks in the large pan on medium-high heat (depending on your taste, you may want to remove the garlic and thyme from the steaks before cooking). When cooking meat make sure it reaches a safe internal temperature, but otherwise, the time you cook the steak is up to you. Keep an eye on your mushrooms and other vegetables and remove them from heat when they are done. I chose to cook my steak to medium-well, but I would suggest medium-rare, as lamb is a very rich meat. The key is high temperature for a short time. Once your steaks have reached your desired level of doneness remove them from the heat and let them rest while you finish plating your vegetables (do not cut the meat immediately).

While your steaks are resting, plate your mushrooms, asparagus, onions, and potatoes, adding your lamb to the plate last.

Enjoy!