Fantastic Foodie Fridays~Broiled Lamb Skewers with Baby Arugula & Lemon Vinaigrette

When I made this recipe, I found that tweaking a few different things made all the difference to me.  First, I made two batches of the marinade.  Using one to soak the lamb over night, so that it would retain a stronger flavor of the marinade.  Doing this made the meat extremely tender and caused me to use less of the second batch of dressing that was used on my salad.  The other thing I did, helped to lighten the calorie count even further.  I did this by trimming all visible fat, using a light sour cream and replacing the Feta Cheese with a light version of Feta.  I also like this recipe with Vidalia Onions which are a little bit sweeter.  The recipe below I left in it's original form without my changes.  This way you can tweak it as you see fit or leave it as is.

Broiled Lamb Skewers with 
Baby Arugula & Lemon Vinaigrette

Ingredients:2 Tbs. Fresh Lemon Juice 2 tsp. Sour Cream 
1 Small Clove Garlic, Minced 
Pinch of Kosher Salt 
1/4 cup plus 1 Tbs. Extra-Virgin Olive Oil 
3/4 lb. Boneless Lamb Shoulder Chops or Lamb Leg Steaks, (trimmed of extra fat) cut into 1-inch cubes (1-1/2 cups)   
Coarsely Ground Black Pepper 
4 oz. Baby Arugula (about 4 cups) 
1/2 cup Very Thinly Sliced Red Onion (1/2 small) 
1/4 cup Crumbled Feta or Blue Cheese (1 oz.) 

Position an oven rack 4 inches from the broiler element and heat the broiler to high. In a small bowl, combine the lemon juice, sour cream, garlic, and a pinch of salt. Slowly whisk in the 1/4 cup olive oil.

Tip:
If using bamboo skewers, soak them in water for 30 minutes before threading them, this makes it much easier to get everything on the skewers.


In a medium bowl, combine the lamb with the 1 Tbs. olive oil, 1/2 tsp. salt, and 1/4 tsp. pepper. Toss to coat evenly. Thread the lamb onto four small (8-inch) bamboo or metal skewers.
Put the skewers on a broiler pan and broil the lamb, flipping once, until browned on the outside but still pink inside (medium doneness), 2 to 4 minutes per side. Transfer the skewers to a small, shallow baking dish. Whisk the vinaigrette to recombine and pour 3 Tbs. over the skewers, turning to coat.

In a medium bowl, toss the arugula and onion with enough of the remaining vinaigrette to lightly coat (you may not need it all). Season with salt and pepper to taste. Pile the greens on two plates, top each salad with two lamb skewers, sprinkle with the cheese, and serve immediately.

The Nutrition Information provided below is using the full calorie ingredients.
Using a light version of Sour Cream, Feta Cheese would change the numbers considerably.
Nutrition Information (per serving):
Size : based on two servings; Calories (cal): 650; Fat (g): 55; Fat Calories (cal): 490;                       Saturated Fat (g):15; Protein (g): 32; Monounsaturated Fat (g): 32;                                           Carbohydrates (g): 8; Polyunsaturated Fat (g): 4.5;                                                                           Sodium (mg): 760; Cholesterol (mg): 115; Fiber (g): 1;


Serves 2
Recipe by: Maryellen Driscoll
photo: Scott Phillips
From Fine Cooking 85, pp. 84a
April 2, 2007