Lamb and Potato Curry

Somewhere along the line, I lost my conviction that every meal must include a green vegetable. Tonight, as I thought about what to make for dinner, I realized the only food in my house was meat, potatoes, salad vegetables, and one butternut squash. No greens. But that's all right! I could bake the butternut squash and then fill the halves with some delicious concoction including the ground lamb I had leftover from the other night's stuffed peppers. Visions of curried lamb with chunks of potato soaking up the spices filled my hungry brain and I set to work.

What I used:

• 1/2 c ground lamb
• 2 irish potatoes
• 12 ounce can of diced tomatoes (which had added salt, so again, I didn't use any extra salt)
• 1 large onion
• 5 cloves of garlic
• 1 T fresh ginger
• 1 chili pepper, halved
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 t cumin seeds
• 1 t dried mint
• 1/2 t ground cinnamon
• 1/2 t ground cardamom
• 1/2 t ground fenugreek
• 1 T fresh cilantro

What I did:

Peel and cube the potatoes, cover them with water, and bring them to a boil. Immediately turn off the heat and set aside.

Dice and mince the onion, garlic, and whatever else needs chopping. (Leave the bay leaf whole and the chili pepper halved.) I got all my spices and herbs (except the cilantro) together on a cutting board, ready to go all together into the hot butter.

Heat a skillet on high and add a good 2-4 tablespoons of butter, ghee, or vegetable oil. Ground spices absorb lots of moisture. When the grease is sizzling hot, but before it browns, add all the herbs and spices except cilantro, turn the heat to medium or medium-high, and toss for about 5 minutes, until everything is tender and slightly browned.

At this point add the can of tomatoes + a can full of water. (If you'd rather use fresh tomatoes, fine; you'll probably want to peel and dice about 5 large tomatoes and add about a cup of water. That was too much work for me tonight and I'm saving my tomatoes for salads and sandwiches.) Stir to combine, then cover and simmer for another 5 minutes.

Add the ground lamb in spoonfuls and break apart the chunks. (You can also use pan-seared lamb cubes, which would be a nice pairing with the potato chunks, and probably more flavorful. I only had ground lamb.) Bring the heat back up to high and simmer uncovered until the meat is fully cooked.

Drain the potatoes and add them and the cilantro. Taste the curry at this point to determine what extra spices you may need. Mine was perfect as it was. Cover again and turn the heat to low for another 5 minutes, giving the potatoes time to finish cooking and the cilantro time to infuse everything with awesomeness.

Serve hot over basmati rice or on its own with naan. Or do something weird like I did and go for a low-carb meal with winter squash.

Makes about 4 servings...if people aren't pigs.