Easter Dinner--Lamb Chops and an Assortment of Veggies

I always say that one of my favorite things about being an adult is that I can eat dessert before dinner (or just have dessert for dinner, for that matter!) I have apparently extended that rule to blogging as well. Although dessert was my favorite part of Easter dinner, the rest of dinner wasn't so shabby either. :-)

We started by deciding to cook some lamb chops. My husband loves lamb, but I've learned from my travels around the world that lamb does not taste the same everywhere. I don't think that I've ever had lamb in the U.S. that I've really, really liked. I don't know what it is about the taste, but there's a strange aftertaste for me with American lamb. I didn't even know I liked lamb until I ate some in Australia, and realized that lamb raised in different places can have different tastes (duh!). So, we decided to try some French lamb--which again is much tastier than American lamb. Maybe I'll have to figure out a way to import lamb once we get back to the States in July. ;-)


I didn't really use a recipe per se, just let the lamb marinate for a couple of hours in a mixture of chopped garlic, rosemary, salt, pepper and just enough olive oil to make the herb mix wet. I pressed that mixture into the chops and let them sit in the fridge. About a half hour before I was going to cook them, I took them out to bring them to room temperature. Then I seared them for a couple of minutes on each side.


I also made a balsamic reduction with some rosemary and peppercorns in a separate saucepan, and then when the lamb chops were done, I poured the reduction into the chop pan, swished it around a couple of times and then removed it from the pan. It was nice and thick, and went well with the lamb. My husband gave the lamb chops two thumbs up...I don't think I heard him say a word, except for "Are you done with that?", until he finished them off!

We also had some garlicky green beans and white asparagus with a Dijon mustard vinaigrette. I make the green beans often as a side dish--just boil some fresh green beans for a minute in a pan, remove them, and drain the water. Add a little olive oil and butter to the pan, add some chopped garlic, and once it starts to soften, toss with the green beans and season with salt and pepper.


And finally, I like white asparagus, but I'm not sure I would use the Dijon vinaigrette again. I wanted a more hearty flavor with it--maybe something more buttery than biting? But they are beautiful right now, aren't they?


We missed being with family for the holiday, but all in all it was a nice little dinner for just the three of us.