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Here's everything you need for this savory crispy spiced lamb and lentils. This recipe takes 30 minutes and makes four servings.

Ingredients to Gather

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/2 pound ground lamb
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 garlic cloves, minced
Red pepper flakes, to taste
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds or a heaped 1/2 teaspoon ground
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1 1/2 cups cooked brown or green lentils (from a scant 1 cup dried)
8 to 10 cup-shaped leaves from 1 medium head bibb or butter lettuce
Tomato-cucumber “relish” salad
Lemon-tahini dressing, with or without yogurt, or 1 cup plain yogurt, seasoned with salt and pepper
A couple tablespoons chopped fresh herbs such as parsley, cilantro, and mint, or a mixture thereof

Directions to Follow

Make crispy lamb and lentils: Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Once hot, add oil, and once oil is hot, arrange lamb in a large even patty about 1/4-inch thick. Season with salt and pepper. Cook until underside and browned and very crisp, about 5 minutes. Carefully pour off most of excess fat and discard. Flip meat in spatula-sized parts, sprinkle top with garlic, a good pinch of red pepper flakes (up to 1 teaspoon for real heat; I used 1/4 teaspoon), cumin and coriander, plus more salt and pepper, and cook until underside is browned, which should only take 2 to 3 more minutes. Use spatula to break lamb into smaller chunks and add lentils. Cook, stirring occasionally, until lamb is cooked through, about 2 minutes more. Transfer lamb-lentil mixture to a bowl.
To assemble: Arrange lettuce leaves on a platter and divide lamb-lentil mixture between them. Top with yogurt, tahini, or yogurt-tahini sauce, tomato-cucumber relish and herbs. Serve with hot sauce, if desired.

To make the cucumber-tomato relish salad, chop up a few tomatoes and either one large cucumber or several smaller ones. Next, finely chop 1/4 a medium red onion and then mix the vegetables and onion in a bowl.  Finally, add olive oil, fresh lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste. To make the lemony-tahini yogurt dressing, take 4 tbsp. well-stirred tahini and whisk it in the bottom of a bowl. Add the juice of 3/4 of a lemon, 1 minced garlic clove and 3 tbsp. water and whisk until smooth before adding salt and adjusting all of the seasonings to taste. If you prefer a lemony-tahini no-yogurt dressing, then start by taking 1/2 cup well-stirred tahini, 1 minced garlic clove, juice of 1 lemon, and 2 tbsp. olive oil and mixing together in a bowl. Add water, whisking it in to loosen up the mixture, and then season with salt and pepper.

Wow! This recipe is really amazing, and we really like all the contrasting but complementary flavors and textures it has. Have you ever made this? What did you think? Share your thoughts in the comment section below!

Article Source: Smitten Kitchen