Lamb is one of my all time favorite dishes. I came across this healthy lemon-mint lamb recipe  in my Women’s Health Magazine and put it the the test last week.

It came out so delicious that we recreated it along with a few new sides for our friends who came over for dinner last night. On the menu:

Roasted Garlic:

Remove outer layers of garlic skin

Cut off tops to reveal cloves (a little green is okay!)

Place on individual squares of tin foil. Drizzle olive oil to coat each clove.

Sprinkle rosemary, salt, pepper, crushed red pepper, and a little thyme

Wrap foil around cloves and place in (toaster) oven at 400 degrees for 30-35 minutes.

I placed some of the roasted garlic cloves in olive oil, balsamic, and a little cracked pepper for dipping. It’s also excellent used as a spread on bread.

I toasted some of the sliced bread for bruschetta. (Drizzle with olive oil before toasting in toaster oven.)

Bruschetta:

Chop tomatoes into small pieces. Mix with minced garlic, basil, olive oil, salt, and pepper.

Spinach Salad with Strawberries

Wash and slice fresh strawberries. Add to spinach. For dressing, I minced a cube of red onion and blended it in a food processor with dijon mustard, white wine vinegar, apple cider vinegar, white sugar, salt, and pepper.

Instead of wild rice we served spinach ravioli with a homemade marinara sauce.

As for the lemon-mint lamb:

Ingredients

• 8 lamb rib chops
• 2 lemons, zested
• 1 large shallot finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves finely chopped
• 1 Tbsp finely chopped fresh mint
• olive oil

1. Brush lamb with olive oil, add salt and pepper to taste.  Set aside at room temp for 20 mins – 1 hour.
2. Make lemon-mint gremolata by mixing lemon zest, shallot, garlic, and mint in small bowl. Set aside.
3. Preheat broiler with oven rack 5-6″ from the heat source. Place chops on rimmed baking sheet or broiler pan outfitted with a rack. When the broiler is hot, broil chops for 4 mins on each side. Turn off broiler, but leave chops in oven with door closed. Let chops rest for 10 mins for med-rare, 15 mins for med.
4. Arrange chops on plates and coat with gremolata.

Makes 4 servings. Per serving: 210 calories, 9 g fat.

Served with vodka cocktails, wine, and beer. And dessert, which I’ll save for a later post. I think the evening was a hit — our guests stayed past 2 a.m.!