This year for our Easter Family Dinner, I decided to forgo the traditional ham dinner, and fix something Paul and I have been enjoying over the past year on our Keto Diet.....Lamb Chops.
When I started thinking of what things to accompany the lamb, I decided to do mostly Greek-type side dishes, with a few others thrown in for fun.
*We started the afternoon off with an apertif....an Italian Spritzer. (Hey, Italy is on the Mediterranean. This is a refreshing drink using the Italian liqueur Aperol, some Prosecco and a splash of club soda. There was also a slice of orange and a sprig of mint in the drink. It was very refreshing! I served some nuts and some Kalamata Olives with the drink.
Nuts and olives, with the Easter Lily purchased at church in memory of Mom and Dad.
*The main course was Greek Lamb Chops. This is my go-to recipe for preparing lamb chops...something I had never prepared until this past year. But this time I used the cast iron dutch oven to fry them in, and I think that was a good choice. That morning, I put them in a marinade of olive oil, lemon juice, oregano, garlic, salt and pepper. About 15 minutes before dinner I fried them in olive oil, about 3 minutes on each side, took them off the burner, covered with a lid, and let them rest for about 10 minutes or so. They were DELICIOUS!! The recipe is here.
Greek Salad
*I found a Tomato Salad with Avocados, Cucumber and Chickpeas with a Greek Lemon Dressing to start off the meal. I served it up in small bowls, and topped it with Feta Cheese. There recipe is here.
Lemon Rice and Green Beans with Garlic and Bleu Cheese
*A couple of weeks ago I had bought a bag of green beans and thought this would be a perfect accompaniment to the meal. I looked through my recipes, and remembered saving this recipe and thought I would give Green Bean “Almondine” with Garlic and Bleu Cheese a try. You roast three bulbs of garlic before hand, and mix it with the blanched green beans and toasted almond slices and then add bleu cheese at the end. If you like those flavors, you will love this dish, which you can find here.
*Our Keto diet does not normally include rice, because of the high carb content. But I splurged a bit today to include rice, because it just seemed like it would go together. (Maybe next time I will try this recipe with riced cauliflower for a lower carb version.) I found a Lemon Rice recipe, here, that was made with basmati rice, garlic, lemon, dill, oregano and cumin, with some feta cheese added at the end. I could have sat down and eaten the whole bowl! The recipe is here.
Keto Strawberry Trifle
It*I did go keto with our dessert. I found a delicious Keto Strawberry Trifle, with the cake made with almond flour and coconut flour. Again, a wonderful light, not too sweet dessert to end the meal. This yummy keto creation can be found here.
*One thing I was going to make, but time got away from me, was some Low Carb Naan bread, and serve it with hummus. I will try it sometime this week with another meal Paul and I will share. I will let you know how it comes out!!
*Our family coming together for Easter Dinner was a much needed comfort in the midst of a very difficult week for our family. Between dealing with my brother and sister-in-law saying goodbye to a pet dog, my sister saying goodbye to a pet cat, Molly and Travis learning the news on Easter Sunday that Travis’ grandmother had passes away (it was also her birthday), and with Paul’s dad’s health continuing to fail, the comfort of knowing death has no sting, because of Jesus, the Risen Savior, the feeling of being surrounded by family in our home, and good food and good drink, and all this, after a particularly spirit-filled and touching church service, was the perfect recipe to celebrate the Resurrection of our Lord.....the Lamb of God....who takes away the sins of the world.
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