Wrapped Up Over the Weekend

I had a lot of soft flour tortillas as well lamb and grilled chicken leftover in the fridge, so I used them to make more wraps for an impromptu picnic on Sunday. Inside the wraps are lamb/chicken, with homemade spicy tomato sauce, roasted red and yellow peppers, tahini, and baby spinach leaves. I was in a hurry and using my rather large collapsible bento boxes from Muji, so I ended up sticking a whole apple into the bento. It's fun to slice fruit up into little bits for bento, but sometimes it is also nice to just bite into a whole, juicy apple... 

We headed up to Pinewood Battery again, and played some frisbee in the park, before setting out our picnic mat to eat lunch. After lunch, we snacked on senbei crackers, listened to some music from YH's phone, and enjoyed the warmth of the sun. The weather is starting to turn cold here, so the bright sun on our backs was actually welcome (for a change).




Lamb Wrap Bento

Although bento is a great way of using up any leftover food you may have, sometimes I will purposely cook a little extra when preparing dinner and set it aside for lunch the next day. It saves time, and is energy efficient, too. Last night, I made grilled lamb with speedy roast potatoes and broccoli. I set aside some lamb, potato and broccoli, and made today's bento with it. If you have a compulsion to finish up everything in front of you (as I do), remember to set aside some food before serving it for dinner. All too often I prepare more, thinking I will keep the leftovers, but I make the mistake of serving everything at the table and finishing it all up!

Anyway, back to today's bento... I sliced up the leftover lamb and made some wraps filled with lamb, tahini, spicy tomato sauce and rocket leaves (rolled up in a flour tortilla). Accompanying the lamb wraps are some red and yellow peppers/capsicum I roasted, as well as the leftover potatoes, broccoli, and some blackberries. In another small container (not pictured) I also packed some raw carrot sticks and a container of hummus).




Grilled Lamb & Speedy "Roast" Potatoes

Sometimes there's nothing more comforting than good ol' meat n potatoes. Best of all, on days you want some comfort, you probably don't want to be stuck in the kitchen for too long. This meal is great because it can be prepared in 25 minutes.

I grilled the lamb fillets using a George Foreman grill, which was recommended to me by a friend, and I absolutely love it. It's quick and easy to use, with brilliant grilling results every time, and, most importantly, it is super easy to clean. I highly recommend it (and no, I'm in no way affiliated to that company)!

The trick to "roasting" potatoes quickly is to microwave them first and then place them under the top griller in the oven to brown. These take around 20 - 25 minutes to cook, and are crispy on the outside and soft and tender inside.

Continue reading...

Speedy "Roast" Potatoes

scrubbed new potatoes
light olive oil
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
rosemary (fresh is best)

1. Wash the potatoes and put them in a microwave safe container. Add a little water.
   
2. Cover and microwave on HIGH for 10 minutes.
   
3. Put the potatoes on an oven-proof dish. Coat with a little olive oil, dash of sea salt and black pepper, and some rosemary leaves.
   
4. Grill the potatoes in the oven for 10 - 15 minutes, until browned. 
   

Tip: If you have a convection oven with a grill combo cooking option, you may wish to grill the potatoes with the microwave setting on low wattage.

Grilled Lamb

lamb fillets
rosemary leaves (fresh is best)
light olive oil
soya sauce

1. Put the lamb fillets in a plastic bag and pour in a little olive oil and a dash of soya sauce. Add some rosemary leaves.
   
2. Mix everything together by massaging the fillets a little in the liquid.
   
3. Grill the fillets for 2 -3 minutes, until cooked to your liking.
   

Serve with potatoes and some heated through frozen peas (or other vegetable).

Tip: If you buy fresh rosemary but have extra leaves, remove the leaves from the stems and freeze the leaves in a small ziplock bag. Remove and use when needed. This is a great way to 'preserve' fresh herbs.

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Grilled Lamb and Pesto Pasta

This is now one of my favourite dishes to make because it is so fast and easy - grilled lamb on a bed of pesto spaghetti. I usually buy lamb fillet, because the meat is very lean, but still tender. Lamb cutlets (pictured above) are good, too, but they can be a little fatty.

Directions:

Boil water and cook spaghetti according to the packet instructions. Drain the pasta and add about 4 heaped tsp of pesto for 250g pasta. Taste and add more pesto if necessary. (I cheat and buy bottled pesto, but you can make your own). Add salt and pepper to taste, and some washed baby spinach or rocket leaves. The warmth of the pasta will wilt the leaves slightly.

Coat lamb with a little olive oil and a dash of soya sauce. The soya sauce gives the lamb a nice browned colour when you cook it. Sprinkle the lamb with some fresh rosemary leaves. (If you don't have fresh herbs on hand, dried basil leaves also work). Grill or pan-fry the lamb for a few minutes, then serve on top of of the pasta.

The same recipe using sundried tomato pesto instead of basil pesto. Here I've used my preferred lamb fillets (all meat, no fat) instead of lamb cutlets.