Ground Lamb and Pearl Cous Cous Stew

Hi there my blog-loves!

I've been kind of MIA for the past few weeks. I'm sorry about that. This hiatus is just temporary, I promise. I have just been a busy little bee with work, and studying, and wedding planning and life in general. I am cooking though, I promise, and I am cooking things that I absolutely want to share with you!

Fall is my favorite time of year to cook, so expect me back in full force come mid-October. Although I will try to get a few tasty recipes to you between now and then, I can't make any solid promises. However, I will be posting some throwback recipes on my Facebook page to get us ready for fall--I'm talking all thing pumpkin, apples, warm casseroles, and delicious soups!

Be sure to like my Facebook page HERE  and share with your friends to keep up with those posts, as well as any new posts so you never ever miss a recipe!

Today I have a wonderful recipe for Ground Lamb and Pearl Cous Cous Stew. This stew is rich and warm, with rustic Middle Eastern flavors throughout every bite.

I absolutely love ground lamb and encourage you to give it a try in this recipe if you've never cooked with it before (previously here, here, and here on GSG and boy do they need new pictures!). It has a uniquely gamey taste that pairs well with tomatoes, cinnamon (seriously!), oregano and thyme.

This stew is a one pot meal--hooray--that comes together in just about 30 minutes. In my original vision, I would have made meatballs out of the lamb, but I didn't defrost my meat soon enough so I had to keep it ground. Turns out, it worked just as well as I could have hoped and made the meal come together that much sooner.

Cuddle up to a big bowl of this hearty stew and welcome the cool weather with open arms.

I'm off to sea!

Hi blog-loves!

Hope you've been enjoying the recent posts here on Gas Stove Girl. I'm having a ton of fun cooking and eating them, and I hope you do too!

Like any good adult, I'm treating myself to a tropical vacation for the next week. I'll be cruising with my good friend to Belize and Cozumel--can you say bright sunshine and 85 degree weather?! I NEED IT!

Since I will be in the middle of the ocean, I won't have any new posts for you. That doesn't mean you can't be cooking though! Perhaps you want to give one of Gas Stove Girl's most popular recipes a try.

These Philly Cheesesteak Stuffed Peppers have far and away attracted the most readers. They are cheesy and hearty, all the amazing flavors of a traditional Philly Cheesesteak stuffed in a pepper...YUM!

Perhaps you need something to warm you up. In that case, Mom's Lentil Soup is a popular stop. This soup is healthy and flavorful, and makes you feel right at home.

My Ground Lamb Lettuce Wraps are packed with rustic Mediterranean flavors. They are light and satisfying. A great alternative to a traditional taco.

 

This French Onion Pasta is comfort food at it's finest. A full meal inspired by a traditional French Onion soup. That means there is bubbly melted cheese on top...you're welcome!

If you love your Crock Pot as much as I do, then you are going to love this Crock Pot Chicken Cacciatore. This meal rocked my socks off. A little bit of prep work leads to a rich, flavorful, and down-right addicting chicken dish.

Have fun cooking while I am away! Let me know what kinds of recipes you'd like to see when I get back, and be sure to comment on any posts with recipes that you've tried -- I'd love to know how it went for you.

Pictures of my tropical paradise to follow!

Until next time,

Jess xo

Ground Lamb Lettuce Wraps

Happy New Year, blogloves!

I hope everyone had a great holiday season. I spent an whole week home in NY and it was a ton of fun. If I could place a theme on the 2012 holiday season, it would be generosity. I'm so lucky to have great family and friends!

Yesterday marked my first day back to work in quite a few days (and my first day in 2013!)...and if i may. Someone needs to warn us young professionals just how hard it is to get back in a routine after being away for a week-plus. Alarm clocks. E-mails. Public Transportation?! Yikes!

I hope to get back on a regular blogging schedule too, once my body re-adjusts to the 9 to 5 grind.

For now, I wanted to share this simple and light recipe I made for dinner last night. It is packed full of flavor, with crunchy veggies and tangy feta to bring it all together.

DISCLAIMER: My pictures here are very sporadic. I was experimenting with my new camera (thanks Mom!!!) and, well, just go with it. Now that I have an idea of what setting works the best, I can be more focused on logically photographing the food.

Ok, back to dinner.

Do you like lamb? I thought I hated it, but after trying it out a few times while out to dinner, I realized I was so wrong. It is actually DELICIOUS. I am still a little timid when it comes to big pieces of the meat, but at Whole Foods I was able to find ground lamb. What a perfect transition - not too intimidating, yet very versatile.

Last night, I made Ground Lamb Lettuce Wraps, inspired by a recipe I saw in Cooking Light magazine this past summer. Lamb begs for meditteranean flavors, and I oblidged.

This setting is way too yellow!

Let's start with toppings -- chopped cucumber and tomato are mixed with fresh parsley, mint, and feta cheese. Nothing wrong there.

Next, since every good wrap should have a condiment, I mixed together equal amounts of plain non-fat greek yogurt and hummus. I had a spinach and artichoke hummus, and boy was it good.

Now all we have to do is cook the meat and build our own wraps. Super simple, but the whole dish feels very sophisticated.

1 medium onion, diced and sauteed with a little bit of EVOO, salt, and brown sugar. We want to get a slight caramelization on these bad boys.

Toss in the lamb, break it up, and cook until browned.

Wilt in 2 cups of chopped fresh spinach. Then the kicker -- 2 whole tablespoons of ground cinnamon mixed in.

For lettuce wraps, I highly recommend a head of boston lettuce. These leafs have a great bowl shape and have a nice, fresh flavor. (P.S. for the carb lovers in your life, like my boyfriend, you can get pita bread, warm it up, and serve everything on top of that). To make your wraps, start by spreading the yogurt hummus on the lettuce. Top with a generous amount of the ground lamb. Sprinkle the tomato cucumber salad on top of that!

Oh, and how could I forget...the crunchy element. Toasted pine nuts! Totally!

This is a great low-carb meal and is actually super fun if you are entertaining. I made a similar dish for some friends a few months ago, and it's totally worth it to let everyone get involved and make their own meal the way they like.

Meghan, Ryan, and Cory enjoying lettuce wraps and grilled vegetables

Greek Meatballs with Tzatziki Sauce

I think appetizers are one of the most fun things to cook. Taking inspirations and putting them into bite-sized treats allows the imagination to run wild!

I also love football Sunday. I am a tried and true New York Giants fan (sorry to my New England followers...) and it is always a big day when the game is aired up here in Boston.

Since I am finally done with my fall exam, I decided that this football Sunday needed to be special and fun (let's just not discuss the final score of the game...)

Instead of making a full meal, I cooked up two different apps to enjoy all throughout gametime. First, I made a batch of Buffalo Chicken Dip from Skinnytaste. This stuff is SERIOUSLY good and more guilt-free than a traditional buffalo chicken dip. It's also incredibly simple to put together.

I baked 3 chicken breasts when I woke up that morning and let them cool completely. Then I used two forks and shredded the chicken into dip-friendly strips.

 I replaced the white wine vinegar with apple cider vinegar because that's what I had on hand. I don't think there would be any difference, so feel free to use whatever is in your fridge! The end result was creamy, spicy, hearty, amazing dip. This will definitely be an appetizer staple in my house.

I decided that just eating buffalo chicken dip was probably not entirely acceptable for two people. So to counter the spicy richness of the dip, I made a batch of Greek Meatballs with Tzatziki sauce.

These meatballs are SO GOOD. They have all kinds of great Greek flavors in them (one of my FAVORITE cuisines) and we gobbled these up real quick.

And the tzatziki sauce for dipping? An added and totally necessary bonus.