Cumin-Roasted Lamb Chops with Scallions and Peanuts by Alison Roman

I have an extraordinarily hard time doing nothing. I’m alone in my apartment for the first time in weeks, and instead of just watching the sun move across my furniture like I should, I feel compelled to immediately produce something, write something, be useful for goodness sake. I live in a constant state of urgency to accomplish more, maximize time. I wonder how many other people feel this level of pressure to be productive. Do they fight it and close their laptops to be still? Do they give into that hunger for checking a box and write about lamb chops instead? 

I choose to write about lamb chops. Who knows, perhaps I’ll choose stillness tomorrow… 

This was my first time ever cooking lamb chops. Given the priciness of this cut of meat, I chose to make a half-recipe just for Jordan and I. I bought the lamb at Whole Foods, unfrenched. (To save someone else the task of googling “frenched vs. unfrenched lamb chops,” I’ll just summarize the results for you: Frenching is the process of scraping the fat and meat off of one end of a bone to make it easier to hold. Unfrenched chops have less room for a good grip on the bottom, but then you get to have more meat.)

I ground up some cumin seeds, peppercorns (I used regular black ones, Szechuan sets my mouth on fire in a bad way), and pepper flakes with my mortar and pestle, then added salt to the mix. After rubbing the spices on all sides of each chop, I cooked them in my cast iron skillet, about 5 minutes per side, until 140 in the center, knowing they would rise to 145 as they sat. I then seared the scallions in all that lamby, fatty goodness, and tossed in the chopped peanuts and rice vinegar. The whole process took about 25 minutes - yes, that’s it! 

I served the lamb chops with Alison’s Persimmon & Pear Salad with Spicy Pecans and Blue Cheese salad - a strong combination bursting with flavor. I’ve eaten a good bit of tough lamb over the course of this project, but these chops were anything but. The meat was tender, not too chewy, and full of flavor. I savored every bite. 

The sun is still setting and my living room still feels safe and quiet. Maybe I can accomplish some writing and resting in the same afternoon? (There I go saying rest is something to accomplish…) 

184 recipes cooked, 41 to go.

Spiced Lentils with Spring Onions by Alison Roman

Alison has four lentil recipes between her two cookbooks, and this is my third one to cook. The final recipe, which will be posted next, uses the lentils made here in a nicoise-like salad. Since I only feel like writing about lentils one more time, this essay will suffice for both recipes. 

I’ve previously written about the first time I ate lentils (also the first time an onion made me cry), and a particularly memorable lentil soup that I ate in Rwanda. I have one final lentil memory to share. It’s not really a story, but rather a certain lentil stew that will always be considered the best I’ve ever had. 

In the earliest days of my career, I worked for an advertising agency in downtown Chicago. The office was located in the historic Monroe Building on Michigan Ave, which was quite the location for a first job out of college. Across the street from our office was Millennium Park, the Bean, the Art Institute, and just beyond, shining Lake Michigan. Our office was located at the very top of the building on the 15th and 16th floors, and the view from those windows often took my breath away. At the bottom of the building were two establishments: Dunkin Donuts (which I do not prefer for donuts nor coffee) and Pret A Manger. Pret (as we called it) is a sandwich/salad/soup chain with coffee drinks and breakfast sandwiches in the morning. It’s not cheap, but it got the job done when you forgot to pack a lunch and had only minutes between meetings to find a substitute. 

It was on such an occasion that I hurriedly walked through Pret to find an affordable lunch before a meeting and stumbled upon the best lentil stew I’ve ever had. It came with a small baguette, which I used to dip into the hot stew and use as a pseudo spoon. The stew itself had tiny bits of onion and carrots, and the flavors consisted of the perfect ratio of salt to acid. I’ve since tried to find their recipe online, and the other fans (yes, other people also love this stew) have surmised that balsamic vinegar is used as the acid component. No other lentil stew has ever come close to that of Pret. 

Alison’s spiced lentils are a fresh-tasting take on the kind of lentil salad that you’d get at a deli counter. Fresh garlic and crushed spices like coriander and fennel seed spend time infusing some olive oil over a low temperature. Alison requests only 15 to 20 minutes of infusion, but I felt the oil could have spent even 30 to 40 minutes over the stove for extra flavor. Once the garlic is lightly browned in the oil, a bunch of scallions (or spring onions if you can find them) and lemon zest, join the pot briefly before the oil and its contents are poured out over the cooked lentils. I added salt and pepper before serving. 

There’s nothing extraordinary about these lentils, but I don’t think Alison means them to be. They’re just a reliable, and flavorful way to prepare these grains, and they can be eaten with just about anything else. Or on their own. 

153 recipes cooked, 72 to go.

Crushed Baby Potatoes with Scallion, Celery, and Lots of Dill

Ah, yes, potato salad. A heralded classic of American cuisine. And yet (and yet) I’ve never liked it. Maybe it’s the cold blocks of potato, or the heavy globs of mayonnaise. Or perhaps, it’s the typical lack of noteworthy flavor. It could be the way it sits in its tub, begging the question: how long have you been sitting there, bud? 

Enter Alison Roman. As usual, she’s decided to shake things up with a new spin on potato salad. Or dare I say, an entirely superior way to make potato salad. In this recipe, you’ll see no mayonnaise, crushed potatoes, tons of fresh herbs, and bold, distinct flavor. You may never want a different potato salad again. 

First step is to boil the potatoes. No, we’re not looking for red skinned potatoes, but rather golden ones that are no larger than a golf ball. (Sure, you can use red-skinned potatoes, but don’t. Those are more mealy and less visually appealing, IMO.) The potatoes only take 15 or so minutes to boil until they’re completely tender. Before smashing them with my palm, I let them cool almost completely, and in the meantime, prepared the rest of the ingredients. 

The bulk of the flavor comes from olive oil, #lotsofdill, lemon zest and juice, finely chopped scallions (white and green parts), and anchovies. These ingredients are combined and tossed with the boiled, crushed potatoes along with finely sliced celery stalks. Finally, the salad is topped with chopped celery leaves, parsley, and dashes of salt and pepper, for good measure. 

I made this salad at home before transporting it to my in-law’s home for dinner. The potatoes spent an extra hour in the dressing, which gave them a chance to become better acquainted with the herbs and lemon juice. This dish was a complete hit between the four of us, and I have a hard time imagining anyone who wouldn’t like it. Which means this can and should be brought instead of that store-bought tub of potato salad you normally bring to potlucks. I can guarantee you won’t have leftovers, and you’ll receive way more complements. Plus, Alison says this salad can be made up to 2 days ahead, so you have no excuses.

110 recipes cooked, 115 to go.

isn’t she lovely

Charred Corn and Scallions with Tomatillos by Alison Roman

Grilling recipe number 2! If you want to know more about the actual grill experience, feel free to check out yesterday’s post about Grilled Carrots with Limey Hot Sauce and Cotija. 

There are several components to prep for this dish, including tomatillos, which I’ve yet to talk about on the blog. For those of you who are unfamiliar, tomatillos are small green fruits that resemble a smaller tomato in shape, and come wrapped in a sticky husk. Tomatillos are not spicy, but rather tangy, acidic, and bright. They’re frequently used to make green salsas. I also love making homemade enchilada sauce with them. I roast the tomatillos and several jalapeños under the broiler before blending them up with salt and pepper. Delicious!

This recipe only needs a few tomatillos (they’re sold by the pound.) They’re thinly sliced and tossed with lime juice, cilantro, salt and pepper, and set aside to await the corn and scallions.  

View fullsize

View fullsize

The recipe calls for either scallions or spring onions. And since I happened to find some spring onions (which are rare these days!), I used those. Two of the raw onions are saved for chopping and tossing with the tomatillos. The rest of the bunch get charred over the grill — which takes only a few minutes. 

The corn grills on medium-high for 8 to 10 minutes according to the recipe. However, similar to the grilled carrots, they could have used another 5-8 minutes to get more char. As long as they aren’t totally blackened, I say the more char, the better. 

Once ready, cut the corn off the cob, roughly chop the grilled spring onions, and mix both with the tomatillo mixture. Per Alison’s note, we added diced avocado — to which I also say, the more avocado, the more delicious. (Alison claims that avocado “does nothing for her,” but I couldn’t disagree more. See this post for a deeper dive into my feelings about avocados.) 

This dish lends itself very well to modification! Margaret pointed out that plenty of alterations could be made based on preference. Add sliced jalapeño or flaky salt, diced fresh bell pepper, or cotija, just to name a few. 

We loved this dish, and it made enough for 6 of us to each have seconds (and for some, thirds). 

91 recipes cooked, 134 to go.

my sweet pal Margaret

Smashed Cucumbers and Scallions over Garlicky Yogurt by Alison Roman

There are a handful of Alison’s recipes that I’m just not looking forward to eating. I don’t mind making them, but eating them is another story. It’s either the flavor combinations that don’t sound appealing or some kind of stew involving lots of different seafoods (she has more than one recipe like this!). I’ve said before that I am committed to trusting Alison. I’m committed to making the recipes I doubt. But just because I make them, doesn’t mean I have to like them. 

I doubted this recipe – hardcore. I did not like the sound of savory yogurt and cucumbers with a salty granola for breakfast. If I’m going to eat a savory breakfast, it absolutely must have eggs. It’s a personal principle. So I made this for lunch – a great decision! 

The recipe contains 3 core elements: 

1. Plain yogurt mixed with raw grated garlic, lemon juice, and salt and pepper. The ratio of garlic and lemon to yogurt kept this from tasting too much like a dip. 

2. Cucumbers, smashed with scallions and more lemon juice. I didn’t have scallions so I substituted them with chives. I put my cut cucumbers, chives and lemon juice in a ziploc and pounded them with the bottom of a skillet. By the fifth or sixth hammer, the bag split open and the cucumber pieces spread out over the counter. That was my signal to quit annoying my neighbors. 

3. Decidedly Not-Sweet Granola - Read all about it in that link. 

I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised. I genuinely enjoyed this meal! The cucumbers bathed in lemon juices and chopped chive were a really nice crunchy counterpoint to the toasted granola. And mixed altogether with the savory yogurt, it was both filling and flavorful. It was a great post-workout meal, one that I’ll make again. 

84 recipes cooked, 141 to go.