Friday Night Lamb

Here's a great recipe idea. We did this for dinner Wednesday night and it turned out so well, we did it again Friday. Nothing special, it's the quality of the ingredients that makes it so good.

Ground lamb in a tomato cream sauce with brown rice linguine

steamed green beans with (homemade!!) raw butter and salt

sliced red pepper (from the farmer's market)

We got ground lamb at the natural foods market that had been pasture raised and was hormone free. Also bought a jar of organic tomato and porcini mushroom sauce and dry brown rice linguine pasta in a bag. We added organic valley half and half to make the sauce richer.

First, brown half a pound of lamb (this is actually quite a bit--you could use less) in a big pan. It will let off a lot of liquid, including fat. Let this stay--it will add flavor and these fats have vitamins that are good for you. Add 1/2 to 2/3 of the jar of sauce and a couple tablespoons of 1/2 and 1/2 or cream.

At the same time, boil water for the brown rice linguine. It will take about 13 minutes to cook. I chose brown rice pasta rather than wheat because our bodies can process the nutrients in brown rice pasta more easily than wheat pasta. I think it tastes just as good, but if you're skeptical, use wheat pasta. Definitely don't sacrifice anything you love!

I boiled the green beans for about 5 minutes and then rinsed them with cool water. I then used that same boiling water for the pasta to save time.

Cut up a red pepper and you've practically got the colors of the italian flag put together on your plate.

Besides tasting really, really good and only taking 20 minutes to make, here is why this meal is so amazing:

1. tons of nutrients.

2. All local vegetables, all local meat and dairy (sustainably raised), and all organic.

3. Price. $3.25 for half pound of ground lamb, $2.50 for half a jar of sauce, $1.50 for half a bag of pasta, less than a dollar each for the green beans and red pepper from the market. And maybe 25 cents for the amount of half and half we used. Total: $9.50 for a very large (organic, sustainable, local) meal for two.