Fragrant lamb with roast beetroot quinoa salad

Method

Lamb and vegetable mince

1. Preheat oven to 200°C.
2. Toss the potatoes and eggplant with 1-2 dessertspoons of olive oil in a bowl. Place in a nonstick baking dish with 2 cloves of garlic.
3. Bake mix for 40-45 minutes, tossing vegetables once or twice, until browned and slightly crisp. Remove from oven.
4. Heat 1 dessertspoon of olive oil in a heavy based non-stick fry pan on medium heat. Add onion and garlic and cook for a few minutes until onion starts to brown.
5. Add 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon and stir to coat the onions.
6. Add lamb mince and turn heat up to high. Break up the mince with a wooden spoon as it cooks. Cook for 10-12 minutes until the lamb is browned.
7. Add potatoes and eggplant to lamb and stir through for 3-5 minutes until lamb is slightly crispy.
8. Season with salt. Stir through parsley and 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon until just combined, and then serve.

Baked beetroot quinoa

1. Preheat oven to 200°C.
2. In a bowl, toss beetroot and garlic with 1 dessertspoon of olive oil from the marinated feta. Bake in oven on baking dish lined with baking paper.
3. Rinse quinoa in a sieve under running water and place in a saucepan with 1 cup of water and cover with lid.
4. Bring to the boil, and then simmer with lid on for about 10 minutes or until the water is absorbed.
5. In a serving bowl, combine pine nuts, mint, cooked quinoa and baked beetroot.
6. Top with goat's feta to serve.

Nutritional information

By Jean Hailes naturopath and herbalist Sandra Villella

I developed this lamb recipe as a simple family-friendly meal; it's relatively quick to prepare (once the vegetables are roasted) and an easy and inexpensive way to include red meat in the diet.

The quinoa dish was created as a way of adding additional vegetables and to lighten up the meal. Quinoa is a pseudo-grain, it is really a seed.

I often prepare the lamb (without the quinoa) and serve with a salad of fresh chopped and seeded tomatoes, Lebanese cucumber, chopped continental parsley, garlic, olive oil and seasoning and sometimes toss in a can of chickpeas.

The quinoa dish can be served as an accompaniment for other meals such as fish or chicken. The salad can also be served on its own as quinoa contains all the essential amino acids to make it a complete protein.