Moroccan Lamb with Black Bean Mango Salad

I first made this lamb dish for a New Year’s Eve dinner in Italy. My friend Fran and her husband Michael come up for dinner to have a low key evening and to watch the firework shows. Fran brought a beautiful leg of lamb which she had deboned the day before, so my only mission was what to do with it.

Pete had bought me a Moroccan spice mix – Ras el Hanout – from The Silk Road Spice Merchants in Calgary. The lamb turned out so well and the recipe was so easy that I had to try it in Toronto.

When you make this recipe, it is really important that you go to a good butcher and get a good piece of fresh lamb. It makes all the difference.

Prep time: 5 minutes; Cook time: 6+ hours; Serves: 6-8 people

What you need:

• 1 boneless leg of lamb, approximately 5 lbs
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 – 4 tbsp Ras el Hanout

What you do:

• Preheat oven to 275 F

• Mix olive oil and minced garlic together
• Untie lamb and pat it dry

• Rub lamb all sides with garlic oil mix

• Rub lamb with Ras el Hanout

• Place spiced lamb in a ceramic pot and cover

• Place in oven and cook for 6+ hours

• Loosely shred meat with 2 forks; incorporate the juices from bottom of the pot into the lamb

• Serve

Black Bean Mango Salad (a dinner reboot)

I served the lamb with a Black Bean Mango Salad that I rebooted from my Mango Salsa recipe. To make this version, you used your leftover Mango Salsa as the base.

What you need:

• 1 540 ml can Black Beans
• 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp cumin
• 1 tbsp West-African Citrus Spice (or, zest from 1 orange + 1/4 tsp of each of ground ginger, paprika, cayenne pepper, garlic salt)
• Leftover Mango Salsa

What you do:

• Add a can of drained black beans to your leftover Mango Salsa
• Add oil, vinegar, cumin, citrus spice (or orange zest + spices)
• Stir well

• Salt, pepper to taste
• Refrigerate