Spiced Lamb with Moroccan Couscous

Our mama made the most amazing grilled lamb this weekend at home, and while we’re a family of healthy appetites, the entire wheel of brie consumed before dinner stopped us cold from getting anywhere near finishing it off. Not an entirely awful problem to have.

I ended up bringing the rest of the lamb home with me, and my mom said, “I hope you do something fun with it for the blog – make lamb and couscous or something fun!”

So I did. I’ve been running around all week and it felt so nice to come home, blast some music, have a glass of wine and actually make myself a good – really good! – dinner.

• 1.5 C dry whole wheat couscous
• 1.5 C and 1/2 C low sodium chicken broth
• 1/2 C chopped yellow onion
• 2 cloves garlic
• 3 green onions, ends and tips removed, chopped
• 1 C shredded carrot
• 1/4 C black mission figs
• Dried or fresh parsley, chopped
• 3 C cooked lamb, cut into 1″ pieces*
• 1 T Chinese 5 spice
• 1 T cumin
• 1 T coriander
• 2 T olive oil, divided

1. Bring 1.5 C chicken broth to a boil, add couscous and remove from heat. Cover and let stand for 5-10 minutes. Fluff with a fork.
2. Saute chopped onion and garlic in 1 T olive oil until translucent and aromatic.
3. Pour remaining 1/2 cup chicken broth into pan with onions and garlic, add shredded carrots and green onions. Stir and cover for 5 minutes, leaving a small crack for steam to escape.
4. Season meat with cumin, Chinese 5-spice powder and coriander. Saute lamb in olive oil until heated through. Remove from heat and let rest.
5. Mix couscous with vegetable mixture and stir in chopped figs.
6. Serve lamb atop bed of couscous, topped with Greek Yogurt.

*I lucked out with the lamb already grilled to perfection, but if I were to start from scratch, I’d chop the lamb and marinate in olive oil and the spices for a few hours before skewering and grilling to medium.