One Leg of Lamb, Two Presentations

lamb tower ten ingredient

Roasted-then-Grilled Leg of Lamb Medallion
Soy Sauce-Olive Oil-Garlic Marinade, Cracked Pepper Crust

Minted Edamame Puree, Whole Wheat Couscous
Grilled Zucchini, Shiitake, Tomato

lamb au poirve

Roasted-then-Grilled Leg of Lamb Medallion
Soy Sauce-Olive Oil-Garlic Marinade, Cracked Pepper Crust

Minted Edamame Puree, Whole Wheat Couscous
Grilled Zucchini, Shiitake, Scallion

Nine ingredients remain the same. Only one ingredient varies – swap a grilled tomato for a grilled scallion to create two totally different presentations. We served these leg of lamb dishes as a test for the “Lean on Lamb” challenge to create healthy recipes for entertaining. The challenge is to cook a leg of lamb as the main-course for 8 people using no more than 10 ingredients (excluding salt & pepper) with a prep time of under 30 minutes.

After preparing 4 lamb dishes over several days, we decided on Leg of Lamb, Curry Quinoa Crust as the one to submit to the contest. That dish, served over Steamed Spinach with a Curried Heirloom Tomato Salsa with Mint and Avocado & Serrano Chile with Lime had it all – color, flavor, texture, balance plus the seasonal element. Though our Lamb Medallion Stack, Warm Anchovy-Pine Nut Vinaigrette with a Dijon Mustard Anchovy Crust, Polenta Cake, Spinach, Parsley, Tomato was pretty popular too, especially with that warm savory vinaigrette.

But we also really liked the roasted-then-grilled method of the two dishes featured in this current post. Marinating and grilling the roasted lamb added another dimension of flavor to the meat. The simple marinade is terrific for all types of grilled meat – soy sauce, olive oil, garlic and black pepper – and since soy sauce is the main element in the marinade, the edamame and shiitake were chosen to reflect an Asian influence.

  1. Leg of Lamb
  2. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
  3. Low-Sodium Soy Sauce/Tamari
  4. Garlic
  5. Edamame
  6. Mint
  7. Whole Wheat Couscous
  8. Zucchini Slices
  9. Shiitake Caps
  10. Scallion or Tomato Slices

how to roast leg of lamb with netting

A boneless leg of lamb is roasted to rare (method here) and let rest until it almost reaches room temperature. The roast is then sliced and trimmed into medallions. The marinade is a mixture of 3 parts low-sodium soy sauce to 1 part olive oil with lots of chopped garlic and fresh ground pepper. The medallions are marinated for about 15 minutes, turning occasionally. Zucchini, shiitake, scallion or tomato are brushed with marinade before grilling. The vegetables are grilled, set aside, and kept warm. The marinated lamb medallion edges are rolled in cracked black pepper then cooked on a very hot grill to sear each side of the meat.

Frozen shelled soybeans are cooked in boiling water for 5 minutes then drained, reserving the water. Half of the cooked edamame is reserved to serve with whole wheat couscous. The remaining portion is pureed in a food processor with a drizzle of olive oil, a handful of fresh mint, and enough hot cooking water to make a smooth consistency. Salt is added to taste.

Whole wheat couscous is tossed with finely chopped mint and warm edamame. The ingredients are then plated as in the photos.

Dish #1

lamb with couscousWe liked:

  • grilled marinated lamb
  • al dente zucchini
  • smoky tomato
  • elegant presentation
  • colors are delightful

Why it didn’t get entered in the contest:

  • lamb is not the star
  • must disassemble the tower to eat

Dish #2

lamb for entertainingWe liked:

  • minted edamame puree eaten together with couscous
  • the char on the scallions
  • peppery crust on the grilled marinated lamb
  • yin-yang presentation
  • fresh mint + lamb in one bite

Why it didn’t get entered in the contest:

  • while flavorful, zucchini and shiitake look like an after-thought
  • color of the dish is one-dimensional

(Blue borage blossoms and purple garlic flowers are not on the ingredient list, they were added for serving at our party).

Thank you to the Tri-Lamb Group for including Taste With The Eyes in the LEAN on LAMB Challenge. We really got a kick out of creating original recipes with boneless leg of lamb. It is a terrific cut of meat for entertaining a crowd – reasonably priced, nutritious, easy to prepare, and it got rave reviews!

9 thoughts on “One Leg of Lamb, Two Presentations”

  1. Love both versions: the ‘stack’ for a dinner party, the ‘flat’ version for more casual meals. Living in Oz, love, love, love lamb and cook it as often as the purse allows [yep, expensive even here as so much revenue created by export!]. Have roasted it and grilled it and braised it and . . . ! But have never first roasted, then grilled and am SO looking forwards to trying 🙂 !

  2. Do I need to choose? 😀 Even though I am not a lamb eater (like I mentioned before…) but I will DEFINITELY eat both of your dishes. Super elegant plating… I need to take a lesson on plating food from you!

  3. For two months my husband has been saying, “We must get a leg of lamb for the grill.” And haven’t. Now, I have two new recipes that also use the bounty of summer. Now I have a plan. This is a gorgeous change from my traditional rosemary-garlic-olive oil combo. You critique yourself strigently! I see beautiful presentations and delicious combinations. But I do understand that you need the lamb to be the star. Thanks for kind comments on my blog.

  4. Oh my they look really good. I agree with the first dish in that you would have disassemble the tower just to start eating it. I just want to start digging in without any extra work.

  5. We love lamb and I just don’t see near enough recipes for it. Thanks for sharing these! Your lamb is cooked absolutely perfect! Just the way we like it. What beautiful meals!

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