On the Lam(b) {lamb burgers}

I’m lucky enough to have a 9 to 5 that I really like. I feel good about the work I do, I enjoy the people I work with and feel like I’m half decent at it. The only problem is that I have to travel. This trip, I packed up and left home for a week. Two work trips and one personal trip later, I’m back home and haven’t eaten a me-cooked meal in too long. I ate some good stuff while I was gone, and some bad/weird stuff but mostly small, warmed breakfast sandwiches from Starbucks.

Before I left, I made one of our favorites from the “other meats” tab of our recipe collection: lamburgers. These have taken on several different iterations – small sliders sautéed on the stove and stuffed in a pita, or in this case, actual burger-sized burgers grilled by my assistant.

Which brings me to a tangent I need to share. This week, my husband and I celebrated our two year anniversary and in true hilarious style, rather than your typical anniversary card, he got me a “boss’s day” card from my staff (him and the pug) that thanked me for my hard work and leadership. I almost peed my pants. Just like when he gave me a card right after he proposed that congratulated me on my recent engagement. Soul. Mate.

Back to the burgers – the recipe is simple but if you start making sauces and the like it can get time consuming. My advice is to make hummus and tzatziki sauce the day before so it can “mature” for you and make an easy side like oven-roasted potatoes that you can dip in the aforementioned sauces. I made quinoa and couscous with sautéed zucchini, red peppers, onions and tomatoes this time. If you want that recipe, tell me. I’m not very good about focusing on the sides.

For the lamburgers:

• 1.25 lbs. ground lamb
• 1/4 cup minced shallots
• 1/8 cup greek yogurt
• 1 1/2 tablespoons dried oregano
• 1/2 tablespoon minced garlic
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Add your ground lamb to the spices etc. above and form them into patties.

Lamb cooks a lot like ground beef. We like our lamburgers medium – so around 160°F. I just googled that to make sure I was right and came across a USDA fact sheet on meat preparation – specifically lamb. Not sure why, but I find this to be hilarious. Did you know that sheep is the oldest domesticated meat species? You do now!

Here’s the finished product, cooked up and served on a small whole wheat pita cut in half across its equator. I slathered the burger with a feta spread I made (just feta cheese and a bit of greek yogurt mixed up together), tzatziki and hummus and added cuke slices, lettuce and tomato.

I encourage you to get more comfortable with your “other meats” tab. When I was little, I thought that lamb gave me nosebleeds and now look at me!

I was a unique child.

Enjoy!