Lamb Chops with Mint Pesto

Using fresh herbs to make sauces such as pestos, can be a great way to add variety to a Paleo diet. You can mix and match combinations of nuts and herbs to accompany different proteins. For this dish, I choose to make a mint pesto, as mint and lamb are a classic pairing that you can never go wrong with.

This dish is from the newly released cookbook, The Paleo Foodie. The Paleo Foodie brings readers gourmet yet simple to make Paleo meals with fresh and vibrant flavors. It is full of recipes that use fresh herbs and spices and have lots of ethnic influence, including several authentic Persian dishes.

You can order The Paleo Foodie here.

If you have any pesto leftover, you can use it all through out the week with eggs or to spice up your lettuce wraps!

Grilled Lamb Chops with Mint Pesto

Serves 6

Ingredients

• 2 lbs/907 g lamb
• 1 tbsp/15 ml extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 tbsp/30 ml fresh orange juice
• 2 tbsp/3 g mint leaves, minced
• 1⁄2 tsp fresh thyme
• 1⁄2 tsp pepper
• 1⁄2 tsp sea salt
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1⁄2 tsp finely grated orange zest
• 2 lbs/900 g lamb loin chops, cut individually

Mint Pesto

• 1⁄2 cup/15 g mint leaves
• 1⁄4 cup/5 g fresh basil
• 1⁄4 cup/30 g macadamia nuts
• 1 tbsp/10 g garlic, minced
• 1⁄4 cup/60 ml extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 tbsp/30 ml fresh lemon juice
• 1 tbsp/15 ml fresh orange juice
• 1⁄4 tsp sea salt
• 1⁄4 tsp pepper

 Directions

1. Preheat grill to medium-high.
2. In a small bowl, combine olive oil, orange juice, mint, thyme, pepper, salt, garlic and orange zest. Rub the mixture all over the lamb and let it rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.
3. In the meantime, prepare the mint pesto by placing all of the ingredients in
a food processor and pulsing a few times until well combined. Adjust salt and pepper to taste.
4. Grill the lamb chops 3 to 4 minutes per side for medium.
5. Serve the lamb chops drizzled with mint pesto.

About the Author

Arsy Vartanian is the founder and chef of the Paleo recipe and lifestyle blog, Rubies and Radishes and she is also the author of the cookbooks, The Paleo Foodie and The Paleo Slow Cooker. In an effort to achieve optimal health and wellness, she discovered the Paleo diet and Crossfit in 2008. Arsy started feeling better than ever and was eventually able to recover from health issues that she had struggled with for almost a decade. Arsy deeply enjoys spending time in her kitchen creating healthy, grain-free recipes for her family and her blog readers. She resides in a quaint beach town in California with her husband and daughter. Website | Facebook | Pinterest

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