Moroccan Vegetables

I love making Moroccan Roast Chicken and never know what other than grains to serve with the chicken. So the last time I made my Moroccan Roast Chicken I began looking all over the web to try to find a veggie side dish, I didn't find one, but I learned more about some of the flavors and ingredients used in Moroccan cooking and came up with this really colorful and tasty dish.

Moroccan Vegetables
2 carrots, peeled and sliced
1 large red bell pepper, diced in large pieces
1 large onion, diced in large pieces
Left over purple roasted potatoes
2 tea spoons of dried parsley
1/4 teaspoon of cumin
The juice of one lemon
1 tablespoon of olive oil

In a large skillet heat olive oil to medium/medium high add in veggies, sprinkle with parsley and cumin and cook on medium for about 5 minutes or until onions are just beginning to turn translucent. Stir up the vegetables and squeeze lemon juice over mix, turn heat up to medium high and cook stirring frequently for about 3 minutes, remove from skillet and serve with Moroccan Roast Chicken.

Bresaola and Montepulciano d’Abruzzo

I love Italian meats, one of my all time favorites is Bresaola. This air-dried salted beef is a beautiful shade of reddish purple that makes it a eye stopper when used in a rocket salad. Which is how I normally serve it. The other evening I decided to go for something a little different. I drizzled the meat with olive oil, squeezed a little lemon juice on it, added some fresh grated Parm and cut up some crusty bread and enjoyed with a montepulciano d'abruzzo. The earthy cherry and raspberry flavors of this type of wine make it an easy to drink red wine that with just a hint of acidity and tannins that make it hard to miss with these or almost anything else at the dinner table. Find a bottle and give it a try.

Roasted Leg of Lamb

My husband loves Greek food, since he is going to be out of town for bit I asked what he would like to eat and a good bye meal and he asked for leg of lamb. I have never made this before, but boy would I again. This came out great, my only issue was that so many recipes for lamb tell you to cook it well done, why would you want to ruin a leg of lamb this way beats me, but I got mine out of the oven before it was too late. We served this up with some Mediterranean Style Humus from Trader Joe's, a Greek salad, and pitas.

Roasted Leg of Lamb

1 2-4lb butterflied leg of lamb

1/4 cup of olive oil

1 lemon

4 cloves of garlic

some fresh oregano

salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Rinse lamb and pat dry. Place lamb fat side up in a roasting pan and season with salt and pepper. Using a knife make 3 slices spread out evenly in the lamb and add 1 clove of garlic into each slice. In a small dish or measuring cup pour 1/4 cup of olive oil, add the zest of 1 lemon, and the juice from half of the lemon, mince some fresh oregano and 1 clove of garlic and add to oil. Mix well and pour over lamb. Cook lamb for about 10-15 minutes per pound (for rare) basting lamb every ten minutes. Slice, serve and enjoy.

My 6 1/2

This is the ultimate sandwich. I have been craving this for so long, but never seem to have fresh mozzarella around the house. This simple sandwich is definitely one that you will crave and enjoy serving to others. Fresh mozzarella, sliced tomatoes, prosciutto, and basil drizzled with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and Italian herbs, served on a baguette. You can add pesto or roasted red bell peppers, but in my opinion the simpler the better for this one. This is another Morucci's inspired sandwich, once again, i you find yourself in the Bay Area, take the trip to Walnut Creek and enjoy a great lunch.

I am trying to work on my pictures of food, but I now realize why professionals use fake food to get great pictures.