Lamb Medallion Dijonnaise

We served lamb medallions dijonnaise as an appetizer during our wedding reception 4 years ago in July. I thought recreating the dish would be a nice way to relive the memories, especially since I didn't get to eat much on our wedding day. We had a little family gathering this weekend so I made the medallions of lamb and placed them on sweet onion crostini. I garnished them with Dijon mustard and some chives from the garden.

If you're not a big fan of lamb, you can use spice as I did in this dish to mask the strong flavor of the meat. I crusted the sirloin with black pepper, cumin and sumac powders. I also added some cumin and coriander to the sweet onion relish to give it a slightly Indian vibe.

Saffron Orzo with Fennel and Vegetarian Chorizo

Orzo has a similar shape to rice, but it's actually pasta . I've found that kids love orzo; it's more tender and more pleasing to the palate of little ones.

We were running out of long grain rice in the house, so I decided to use orzo pasta as a substitute for rice in my Spanish rice dish. To bring another layer of flavor, I added some fennel that I cook in apple juice. Enjoy!

Spanish Rice Recipe

Since I have to please a large crowd of vegetarians in the house, I'm always looking for ways to make my dishes more flavorful and nutritious.  Traditional Spanish rice is already packed with flavor, so with the addition of just a few ingredients it can become a complete meal. To the standard blend of white rice, onion, tomato, garlic and cilantro, I add protein in the form of cannellini beans and vegetarian chorizo.  I finish the dish with a little saffron and Tabasco for an additional kick of fragrance and flavor.

For the non-vegetarians, I make a ground lamb chorizo that I add to the Spanish rice instead. This way everyone is happy, and it's not a lot of additional work for me.

Palak Paneer (Fried Indian Cheese in Garam Masala and Cream Spinach)

There are few dishes as synonymous with Indian cuisine as palak paneer . After tandoori chicken and naan (Indian round fluffy bread made of white flour), it's probably the most common item on menus at Indian restaurants. Variations of the dish are prepared all across the country.

At the core, though, palak paneer is a very simple dish. Spinach (or palak in Urdu) is cooked with a spicy cream mixture and studded with fried Indian farmer's cheese, called paneer. The cream is spiced with the same masala that is used in many other dishes. If you're new to Indian cuisine, this is a great introduction. You'll never go back to regular old cream spinach again.