Spicy Lamb & Lentil Bowls with Blistered Shishito Peppers
This simple meal packs a lot of fresh flavors with hearty, nourishing ingredients that will leave you full yet happily content. I love light summer meals like this because they’re relatively easy to prepare and use a lot of the summer bounty. We’re harvesting the first of the season’s shishito peppers here at Tumbleweed Farm and they are definitely a reason to celebrate (heck, we even named our daughter Pepper because we love peppers so much!) We blistered the peppers in a hot cast iron pan with a bit of oil and reserved lamb fat to create a perfect char, while still letting the inside of the peppers stay tender and moist. They’re absolutely divine and are the perfect addition to this spiced lamb and lentil bowl. I hope you all enjoy this meal as much as we do.
Cheers from Tumbleweed Farm
Spicy Lamb & Lentil Bowls with Blistered Shishito Peppers
Prep Time: 25 minutes Cook Time: 30 minutes Serves: 4
- 1 cup dried green or brown lentils, rinsed and picked over
- 1 bay leaf
- 1/2 of a yellow or red onion
- fat pinch of salt
- 1 pound ground lamb
- 2 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- salt and pepper
- 2 tablespoons cooking fat (butter, oil, bacon grease) divided
- 1 pint shishito peppers (or two cups)
- 1 small cucumber, large diced
- 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
- 1/2 cup chopped parsley
- whole milk yogurt for serving
- flakey sea salt and pepper for serving
- squeeze of fresh lemon juice
Preparation
- Prepare the lentils by placing them in a pot with 3 cups water, the bay leaf, onion and a hefty pinch of salt. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover the pot and simmer until the lentils are tender, about 20-25 minutes. Drain any excess liquid and discard the bay leaf and onion.
- In a large bowl mix the lamb with the garlic, red pepper flakes, cumin and a fat pinch of salt and pepper.
- Heat 1 tablespoon of cooking fat in a large cast iron skillet over medium high heat. Add the lamb mixture and cook, using a wooden spoon to break up the meat a bit, until it's cooked through and no longer pink, about 5-7 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to remove the lamb to a plate or bowl.
- Keep the pan on high heat and use the reserved fat in the pan from the lamb and add another tablespoon (or two) of your cooking fat of choice. Add the shishito peppers and cook on high until blistered on all sides. About 2 minutes per side. Remove with a slotted spoon.
- Divide the lentils between bowls and top with the lamb mixture, cucumber, herbs and yogurt. Arrange the shishito peppers on top and sprinkle with additional salt, pepper and crushed red pepper flakes to taste. Squeeze a little fresh lemon juice before serving.
Notes
Use this recipe as a guide and adjust measurements and ingredients as necessary.
Congratulations! Pepper is such a fun name!
I made this for dinner tonight and the only thing I changed was that I added white rice to the bowl since I had a little left over and wanted to use up. This was amazing! Thank you for sharing!
So glad to hear!