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This is a Smithie's food blog and everything looks amazing-- to me :)

It has been my recent procrastination stop.

Enjoy!

Lamb Chops, Moroccan CousCous and Brussel Sprouts and Broccoli

Last nights dinner felt like a long deserved meal.  We don't cook much meat at home because we both feel like cooking meat means grilling outside, and unfortunately, no tengo un grill.  But when I do cook meat at home, I am reminded that it can still be just as delicious, just maybe not as fun as standing outside with a cold beer, a good conversation and a hot grill. 
This dish was a create-as-you-go meal, but here is the jist of what I did.
4 individually cut lamp chops (with a good piece of fat on them for flavor)
In a baking dish I added:
-chopped garlic
-extra virgin olive oil
-red wine vinegar
-balsamic vinegar
-sea salt
-pepper
-fresh rosemary, chopped
-fresh mint, chopped
I let the lamb chops marinate for about 30 min. before cooking, since I didnt have much time from buying til eating as I was hungry, but 30 min. still worked just fine!  I would ocassionally flip the chops to evenly distribute the marinate.
On my stove top grill pan, i had the heat on medium and I cooked the chops for about 5 1/2 min. on each side for a medium rare chop and basted with the extra marinade after I flipped them.

Isreali CousCous turned Moroccan
I LOVE Moroccan food and since the mint smelled so good, I thought I would turn the couscous into a Moroccan dish.
Using Isreali CousCous (Pearl CousCous):
Heat extra virgin olive oil in a pot and cook couscous until turning golden brown (about 3 min. tossing continously) then added 2 cups of water (to what was about 1 3/4 c of couscous).  After the water starts to boil, turn to low heat and let couscous cook.  I chopped up slivered almonds that I have on my counter for snacks, breakfast and salads and added it to the cooked couscous along with a hefty amount of chopped mint and currants (small raisins).  This could not be easier and tastes delicious.

Brussel Sprouts and Broccoli
While cooking freshly bought food, I also wanted to make sure I wasnt wasting any food I had in the fridge, so we decided to cook all of the brussel sprouts (quartered) and some broccoli (cut up), with some garlic.  Rather than doing what I usually do (roasting them) I wanted to cook them on the stove with a little extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice, red pepper flakes and siracha sauce (for a spicy dish) and a little salt and pepper. Before the dish was finished I added some thin strips of the lemon rind to the dish and let the brussel sprouts and broccoli char on the ends for extra flavor. 

These three dishes combined on one plate was VERY easy to make and didnt take too much time.  HIGHLY recommend making it.  Enjoy!!