Photos of What We Eat #12: Locally Raised Braised Lamb Masala
Welcome to Almost Fit. Almost Fit focuses on improving your health by eating real food in moderation. This post is a continuation of the series of photographs of What We Eat. If you enjoy this post, please consider subscribing. Thanks.
Supper, Tuesday evening
- Lamb masala: Braised lamb (locally raised), zucchini, eggplant, organic garbanzo beans (canned), potatoes (CSA), chopped cipollini onions, celery, and carrots (CSA and our garden), fresh garlic (CSA), 2 cups of premade masala, 1 cup premade curry, golden raisins, garam masala spices, dania powder, whole Thai coconut milk (canned)
- Raita: Whole milk yogurt (Nancy’s), salted cucumber, cilantro (from our kitchen garden), fresh lime juice, pepper
- Salad: Greens from the garden and CSA, olives, basic balsamic vinaigrette
- Naan (store bought)
- Rice: Brown jasmine rice cooked in chicken stock and water
The highlight of this meal had to be the lamb. We’ve found that braising the lamb at high heat is the key to keeping it tender in masala or curry. This dish cooked for about an hour.
If you read the ingredients for the masala, you’ll note that we used a few cups of premade masala and curry. The reason for this was simple: to make a good masala from scratch takes time. We started dinner a little later than normal, and keep a few jars of good masala and curry around for just such occasions.
This meal was also a good value; in addition to feeding the four of us and my wife’s parents, we had leftovers for lunches for the next several days.
Related posts:
- Photos of What We Eat #6: Fish tacos with rice, beans, and corn
- Photos of What We Eat #11: Chipotle Sausage and Seasonal Vegetable Soup
- Photos of What We Eat #4: Fusilli pasta with summer vegetables and shrimp
- Photos of What We Eat #7: Sushi with shrimp soup
- Photos of What We Eat #9, Seattle edition: Indian food and the Seattle skyline
It’s too bad that you seem to have run out of content for this blog. I used to enjoy reading the articles. Do you really think your readers care to see pictures of all of your meals? Maybe once in a while, sure, but these now dominate the blog. Oh well. Time to unsubscribe from the RSS feed.
Thanks for the feedback Kevin - I do value the input. Yours is the first negative feedback on the photo series that I’ve had, but I’ll certainly take it into consideration. Most of the responses I’ve had have been favorable, but I do see how you would feel that way.
Thanks for the comment - as I said, I do appreciate it.
Do you have any subjects in particular that you’d like covered?
Ummm….Aug 25 you wrote an article about exercise and usually you have bits and pieces in with the meal pictures so you are posting articles at least once a week. . I like the meal pictures because it helps give me ideas for supper. I am not very creative. Maybe you could decide how many articles to write in a week and still keep the meal photos coming as well. Kevin could monitor the RSS feed and come and read the articles when they are posted and I can continue to come by and flip through the photos and come up with meal ideas.
Christines last blog post..Spontanious Human Combustion
Whoops…I checked back and you wrote more than one article on exercise last week as well as the meal photos which you sometimes provide more than one a day. I think that you have just added the meal photos on top of the articles. I continue to enjoy your blog and am keeping my RSS feed.
Christines last blog post..Spontanious Human Combustion
Hey there Christine - Yep, that was the original intent of the posts, since I had folks ask for ideas on what “real food” looks like. The photos are generally my estimation of real food, but as I said in the original post I wanted to be candid as well - I do my best to eat real food always, but sometimes circumstances get in the way.
That said, I also think that there are a fair number of users like Kevin, who are not interested in the photos. I have come up with a new solution that will hopefully satisfy both camps - And really, it’s thanks to Kevin’s comment. It spurred me to look at the feature from a different angle, and I truly do appreciate that.
Oh - and I forgot - THANK YOU Christine for your support. I really appreciate that too!
I have enjoyed your real food photos along with the articles. It’s nice to stop by and get ideas about what to eat and learn where these foods came from. Some of us might not know how to find pastured chicken or what CSA is. You are doing more with this feature than you realize. Thank you and I’m still a subscriber because I know your articles will be helpful in keeping us healthy.
Robin
Robins last blog post..ER Fat Burn Intro Call With Dr. Heidi - Recording From Thursday Aug. 29
Personally I love the meal pictures, the photos are great and you show correct portion sizes which we need to see. The lamb marala looks terrific!
What you might want to do is offer separate rss feeds, that way people who are not interesting in seeing healthy food, sized properly with beautiful pictures, don’t have to see them.
I like the meal photos, too. Ya’ll amaze me.
Because I adore sheep and (baby sheep even more!), I have some qualms with eating lamb, but it’s just so darn tasty. lol.
Fit Bottomed Girlss last blog post..Damaged Goods
@John: You read my mind - that is exactly what I’m planning to do here. And thanks - the portion size is also a consideration for me, and knowing that I’m showing the plate to hundreds of other people via a photo makes me think about how much I shovel onto the plate!
@FBG: I hear ya on the sheep thing. If it’s any consolation, they were well treated before their participation in the latter half of the circle of life.
It seems like you’ve already figure out how you are going to do the photos, but add me to the list of people that likes to see them. As for the food, I’ve never eaten lamb in my life. It’s not that my parents didn’t, it’s just not on that i’ve ever tried for some reason. are there any other meats that you would consider comparable, or is it pretty unique?
I LOVE TO SEE EM TOO!
motivating to me to git off my arse and COOK.
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I think they look good! Thanks for sharing!
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Oooo, premade masala and curry? Sounds like a good plan. Is this something you make ahead of time, or bought from the store? Because if it’s the latter, I’d love the brand names–anything that would make it easier to make yummy food is a plus. Thanks!
@Tom: I am a little late here to your comment, but I will say that to me, lamb is similar to a more tender version of beef? If it is “good”, it won’t taste gamey, like deer meat sometimes does.
@Brit: We actually buy jars of premade masala and curry from Trader Joes (their brand) to have around for those nights when we don’t feel like making it from scratch. I actually made an Indian dinner completely from scratch a while back, and it took 4 hours! I have SUCH admiration for those who cook this way daily - I am sure they are much faster than I am, but it definitely gave me a new perspective on how much effort is involved.
And, of course, there are no Trader Joes anywhere near me. *sigh* No curry or masala for me, I guess.