Grilled Lamb Chops with Grilled Vegetable Quinoa

When the weather's nice, there's nothing easier than throwing something on the grill after work. (Maybe that's because John mans the grill and therefore I'm only responsible for prep and clean-up while he does the "cooking." Nonetheless he never complains when we have lamb chops on the menu. I cut one rack of lamb into double chops, drizzled with olive oil and seasoned with salt and pepper. I did the same with two zucchini squashes (sliced length-wise, approx 1/2 inch thick) and one red onion (sliced into rounds approx the same thickness). Grilling veggies is tough. You either grill them on a piece of tin foil- losing some of the charring and grill flavor or you risk losing them through the grill rack while flipping. Onions are particularly dangerous because the rings separate and they slip through the cracks even easier. This time I attempted to thread the onion slices onto a sharp metal skewer so that John could just flip them all at once. Unfortunately the skewer broke many of the onion rings which caused them to fall but I think it helped a little.

While John was grilling, I cooked some quinoa per the package instructions, I think it was about one cup of dry quinoa. If you're not familair with quinoa, it is a delicious and super healthy alternative to rice or cous cous. It cooks up quickly like cous cous but has all of the health benefits (and many more) of brown rice. According to a website that I consulted: •Quinoa is 100% whole grain and is close to being a perfect food source in the balance of nutrition it provides. Technically it's not a grain but the seed of a leafy plant related to spinach. Quinoa is an excellent source of protein - 12% to 18%. According to The National Academy of Sciences, quinoa is "one of the best sources of protein in the vegetable kingdom".

I also prepared a quick garlic vinaigrette to pour over the lamb chops:

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

juice of half a lemon

one large garlic clove, finely minced or pressed

one tablespoon of chopped fresh chives

pinch of kosher salt and some black pepper

I like the idea of a vinaigrette with grilled meats when you don't have time to wait on a marinade. You can use any combination of vinegars/oils/spices/herbs/etc. to add flavor at the very last minute.

The lamb chops cooked quickly, approx 3 or 4 mins per side for medium rare. The veggies took approximately the same out of time. While the chops rested, I diced up the grilled vegetables and tossed them into the cooked quinoa with 1/4 cup or so of chopped fresh chives and a generous pinch of kosher salt and pepper.) I served two double chops a piece alongside a generous pile of the grilled veggie quinoa and passed the garlic vinaigrette at the table to drizzle over top. Lucky for John I wasn't quite ambitious enough to eat both chops so he ended up with left overs for lunch.

With dinner we enjoyed one of my new favorite Malbec's from Layer Cake. The Layer Cake Shiraz has gotten a lot of hype recently however I much prefer the Malbec. Its around $15 a bottle and absolutely fantastic.