Lamb Biryani Bowls

It’s hot. As I’ve said for the millionth time this summer. I’m sorry, but it’s just so all consuming.

During this time of the year, I’m always trying to figure out a way to force myself to eat more well-balanced meals that do not start with ice and end with cream. This isn’t horribly hard because I am a salad girl, but even those can be boring by the time July rolls around. I’ve recently come up with a way to make those salads a bit more bearable by making them a lot of “something else” to balance out a lot of lettuce.

Part of it has been making foods that are tasty eating cold or lukewarm and this Lamb Biryani Bowl with Tomato-Onion Salad is just that. It take my favorite flavors of lamb biryani, a dish that usually involves an oven and layers of rice, and makes into more of a stir fry served on top of spiced cauliflower rice; a total package that can be eaten cold or just slightly warmed on top of a large bed of salad greens.

Cauliflower rice- I know I’m so late to the game, but you know I hate prepping cauliflower. What a mess. Still, it was a relatively painless process thanks to the tips of the Minimalist Baker, the food processor does all the work and everything from top to bottom is done in about 30 minutes. Be generous with the spices- spices is nice, and overdoing it will add more flavor but not really any more heat.

Because we really don’t need any more heat…

Written before the politics.

Lamb Biryani Bowls

July 19, 2016

Servings: 2

Prep: 10 min

Cook: 20 min

Total: 30 min

Difficulty: Easy

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Biryani-spiced ground lamb served with spiced cauliflower rice and topped with a tomato-onion salad make these delicious lamb biryani bowls.

By: Chrissy

Ingredients

For the lamb:
1 TB coconut oil
½ pound ground lamb
½ white onion, sliced (about 1 cup)
1 15-ounce can garbanzo beans
1/2 cup carrots, grated
1 Thai chili, deseeded and minced
1 tsp grated garlic
1 tsp grated ginger
½ tsp salt
½ tsp cayenne
1 tsp, heaping, cumin
½ tsp, heaping, coriander
¼ tsp, heaping, Garam Masala
1/8 tsp, heaping, turmeric
¼ tsp fresh mint, chopped
½ tsp fresh cilantro, chopped
1 lime, juiced
For the “rice”:
1 TB coconut oil
1 head cauliflower, quartered
½ tsp black pepper
2 cloves
2 green cardamom pods
1 black cardamom pod
½ tsp cinnamon
1 tsp caraway seeds
For the tomato-onion salad:
1 cup finely chopped tomato, deseeded
1 small Thai chili, deseeded and diced
¼ cup red onion, diced
2 tsp mint, chopped
2 TB cilantro, chopped
½ tsp salt
1 lime, juiced (about 3 TB)

Directions

Step 1 Make the salad:
Step 2 Place all the salad ingredients in a bowl. Mix well and set aside to meld while everything else cooks.
Step 3 Make the lamb:
Step 4 In a large nonstick skillet, heat the oil. Add the onions and chili and cook until soft and slightly golden, about 8 minutes. Add the lamb, break it up and cook until it is all brown. Add the garlic, carrots, and ginger, garbanzo beans and spices and lime juice. Cook until everything is heated through and most of the liquid has evaporated. Fold in the mint and cilantro.
Step 5 Make the rice:
Step 6 While the lamb is cooking, prep the cauliflower rice. With a grater or a food processor pulse or grate the cauliflower into the size of rice, leaving any large, tough stems behind. Place riced cauliflower into a paper towel and press to remove any excess moisture.
Step 7 Using a mortar and pestle or a spice grinder, grind together the cardamom (removing the outer pods), cloves and caraway seeds into a powder.
Step 8 In a large sauté pan, sauté in a large skillet over medium heat with the coconut oil. Add the “rice” and the spices and cinnamon. Cook for a total of 5-8 minutes until tender. If you want to let it get a little crispy at the bottom, go for it!
Step 9 Serve the lamb on top of the rice and top everything with the onion salad.