January 2006 - Lamb Cutlets with Bean, Strawberry and Feta Salad

After an unsuccessful choice last time I was hoping that this time around would be better. Again there were large amounts of seafood recipes. There are also a lot of recipes for using up left over Christmas ham and turkey. Since I did not host anyone for Christmas this year I have no left over ham or turkey. I do have a turkey breast roll in the freezer but I do not want to cook that right now.

There was one recipe in particular that caught my eye. It is another Valli Little recipe, I never realised before how many recipes of hers are in delicious. and how wonderful most of them look. I promise though there are some recipes by different chefs coming up. In this month's magazine there is a full page picture of Lamb Cutlets with Bean, Strawberry and Feta Salad. It instantly caught my eye with the different colours and I just knew that the flavours would be wonderful. I will admit that I am not normally a fan of green beans as a vegetable. I always remember them being soggy, bland and overcooked. However this salad looked too good to let my apathy toward one of the ingredients stop me. I am so glad that I made this. The beans that I purchased were not as young and thin as I would have liked but they were okay. The sweetness of the strawberries combined beautifully with the sweetness of the lamb. All the sweet was cut by the salty and creamy feta. I used the raspberry vinegar in the dressing, however mine is very sweet so I think that I could have left the sugar out but it wasn't too bad. It was a really easy dish to pull together and easy to make after work for a week night meal.

Lamb Cutlets with Bean, Strawberry and Feta Salad

Ingredients (serves 4)

• 12 french-trimmed lamb cutlets (I didn't get french-trimmed, I like the extra meat)
  
• 1/2 cup (125ml) olive oil
• 2 lemons, very thinly sliced
• 1 bunch mint, leaves picked
• 2 tbs raspberry or red wine vinegar
• 2 tsp caster sugar
• 1 tbs Dijon mustard
• 500g French or thin green beans, blanched
• 400g small strawberries, sliced
• 400g feta, crumbled

Method

1. 
   Place lamb in a shallow dish and drizzle with 100ml oil. Add the lemon slices, half the mint, and season. Toss to coat, cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.
   
2. 
   Whisk remaining oil, vinegar, sugar, mustard, salt and pepper. Toss together beans, berries, feta and remaining mint.
   
3. Heat a barbecue or chargrill to high and cook lamb, in batches if necessary, 2-3 minutes each side. Cook lemon slices for 1 minute. Toss salad with dressing and serve with lamb and lemon.