Lamb Chops Buckwheat Black Pepper Strawberries (Print-Friendly Version)
Juicy lamb pairs with buckwheat, chard, and peppery strawberries for a lively, elegant entrée.
# Ingredients:
→ Grain and Vegetables
01 -
1 cup buckwheat, bulgur, or other grain of choice
02 -
10 stems chard, cut into ribbons
→ Protein
03 -
1 rack of lamb (8 lamb chops, 1 to 2 pounds total)
→ Seasoning and Cooking Essentials
04 -
Kosher salt
05 -
Freshly ground black pepper
06 -
Neutral oil (e.g., canola oil)
07 -
Extra-virgin olive oil
→ Fruits and Wine
08 -
1 pound strawberries, hulled and halved
09 -
½ cup dry red wine
# Steps:
01 -
Bring a medium pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Whisk in the buckwheat, return to a boil, lower the heat, and simmer until tender, 10 to 12 minutes.
02 -
Place the chard ribbons into a medium bowl. Drain the buckwheat and pour it over the chard, letting the heat from the buckwheat wilt the chard.
03 -
Season the lamb chops liberally with salt and pepper. In a large skillet, heat neutral oil until smoking hot. Sear the lamb, flat side of the rack down, until deeply browned, about 5 minutes. Flip and sear the other side until medium-rare, about 3 minutes more. Remove the lamb from the pan to rest.
04 -
Tip excess fat from the frying pan into a heatproof dish and discard when cooled. Return the pan to high heat, add neutral oil, and heat until smoking. Add strawberries and a couple of grinds of black pepper. Sear until the juices just start to leach, about 2 minutes. Remove strawberries from the pan.
05 -
Add red wine to the pan to deglaze, scraping up browned bits from the bottom. Reduce the wine by half, then pour over the seared strawberries.
06 -
Toss the buckwheat-chard mixture with a couple of glugs of extra-virgin olive oil.
07 -
Slice the lamb rack into eight individual chops. Plate the buckwheat-chard salad onto four plates, place two chops per plate, and spoon the roasted strawberries over the top.