Easter Bestovers: Lamb Sandwich

Disclaimer:  McKenzie and I are consulting dietitians for Lean on Lamb, the Tri-Lamb Group.

We hope everyone had a wonderful weekend spent with the ones you love!  I celebrated both Passover and Easter this weekend, with a fun, boisterous Passover dinner in Vancouver with Elie’s family and a lovely, relaxing Easter lunch at our home with my Mom and good friends.  Both holidays are poignant reminders to pause and be grateful.

Of course, no holiday is complete without our traditional favorite foods. When I was growing up, we raised sheep, so we often had lamb for Easter.  For Easter lunch, we served a roasted leg of lamb, based on this recipe.  I bought a boneless leg of lamb, and butterflied it, slathering it inside and out with a mixture of butter, garlic, Dijon mustard, rosemary, thyme, lemon zest, salt and red pepper flakes before rolling it and roasting it to a perfect medium-rare.  I served it topped with a fresh salad of thinly sliced radish and fennel marinated in lemon juice and olive oil.  It was delicious!.

Of course, one of the benefits of roasting a leg of lamb is leftovers.  Twitter has been buzzing with ideas for using leftover lamb, including these creative recipes from Food & Wine.  But when it comes to leftover lamb, I’m all about the sandwich.  Sometimes I’ll stuff lamb slices into a pita with chopped cucumber and tomato and tahini sauce.  Or turn the lamb into tacos with homemade tortillas and a spicy cilantro sauce.

But this time, I went Southern.  Think, pulled pork sandwich with cole slaw, except with lamb: toasted whole wheat bread slathered with spicy Dijon mustard and piled high with a cabbage, fennel and radish slaw and slices of leftover lamb.  Delicious.  Here’s how you make it.

Bestover: Lamb Sandwich with Cabbage Slaw 

Leftover leg of lamb, sliced

Purple cabbage, thinly sliced

Fennel, thinly sliced

Radish, thinly sliced

Fresh parsley, chopped

Sea salt

Black pepper

Red pepper flakes

Lemon Juice

Extra virgin olive oil

Whole wheat bread, toasted

Dijon Mustard

This is more of a method than a recipe.  Scale the ingredients to the number of sandwiches you are making, and make the slaw exactly how you like it. 

In a bowl, combine together the shredded cabbage, thinly sliced fennel, thinly sliced radish and chopped parsley.  Add a pinch of salt, a few grinds of black pepper and a pinch of red pepper flakes.  Squeeze on a little lemon juice and a drizzle of olive oil.  Toss together.

Spread both pieces of toasted bread with Dijon mustard.  Top the bottom slice with a heaping cup of slaw and then place about 3 ounces of lamb slices on top of the slaw.  Cover the sandwich with the top slice of bread, cut in half and enjoy!  As always, food is best when shared with someone you love.