Recipes

Spiced lamb skewers with blackberry quinoa salad

Look out for packs of mixed red and white quinoa with bulgur wheat, which cooks in just 10 minutes and makes a great change from rice. Any leftovers can be packed into a plastic box and taken to work for lunch. 

Serves 4

Prep: 25 minutes
Cook: 10-14 minutes

 

Lamb skewers

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 teaspoon cumin seeds, roughly crushed

1 teaspoon peppercorns, roughly crushed, plus a little extra

1 lemon, juice only

2 teaspoons runny honey

2 tablespoons olive oil

Few salt flakes

700g (1lb 9oz) lean lamb leg steaks, cubed

125g (41/2oz) fine asparagus

 

Quinoa salad

750ml (11/4 pint) vegetable stock

200g (7oz) mixed red and white quinoa with bulghar wheat

1 red onion, halved, thinly sliced

200g (7oz) blackberries

100g (4oz) sun blush tomatoes in oil, drained

Small handful flat leafed parsley, roughly chopped

Small handful fresh mint, roughly chopped

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 lemons, halved

 

1.       Add the garlic, crushed cumin and peppercorns to a shallow dish; add the lemon juice, honey, 1 tablespoon oil and a generous sprinkling of salt and fork together to mix. Add the cubed lamb and toss in the garlic mixture then thread on to 8 small metal skewers. Toss the asparagus with the remaining 1 tablespoon oil and a little extra salt and pepper.   

2.       For the quinoa salad, bring the stock to the boil in a saucepan; add the quinoa mix and simmer for 12 minutes or until the grains are just beginning to separate. 

3.       Pour off any excess stock, leaving just enough in the pan to keep the quinoa moist. Tip into a bowl then add the remaining salad ingredients and toss together with a two spoons.

4.       Preheat a griddle pan or grill and cook the lamb skewers for 10-12 minutes, turning several times until browned. Take out of the pan, add the asparagus and cook for 3-4 minutes until just tender.

Add the asparagus to the salad then serve with the lamb skewers. Squeeze over lemon juice to taste.