A very happy (and belated) blessed Easter greeting from the Hungry Southern Belle family.  It was a gorgeous day in Atlanta.  I was able to start my day with one of my favorite barre3 workouts and then ended the day with our traditional Sunday family dinner.  Lamb has historically been a favorite for my family on Easter.  I wanted to stick with tradition but with a different twist of my whole/clean eating shift.  What a treat!  I threw together a beautiful rainbow swiss chard salad with roasted red and golden beets and finally tossed with some crumbled goat cheese.  This was served along side tzatziki lamb patties in whole wheat pita’s.  Yummy and healthy!  Then we didn’t feel so guilty about the southern inspired Honeysuckle gelato and fresh berries we had for dessert.  The lamb would also be delicious served with lettuce leaves as a wrap and perhaps a brown rice/quinoa blend on the side.  I purchased whole wheat pita pockets at Whole Foods which were delicious as well.  The recipe I am posting is a version of one featured in a barre3 book.  Enjoy y’all!

Rainbow Swiss Chard & Beet Salad

(This is a recipe I “threw” together on my own.  You can alter it in any fashion and to your taste.)

Ingredients:

• 1 bunch of rainbow swiss chard
• 6-8 small fresh beets (I used a combination of red and golden beets)
• Goat Cheese (amount to taste)
• Olive Oil/Vinegar (amount to taste)
• Cracked Pepper/Cracked Sea Salt (to taste)

Instructions:

• Chop off rough ends of swiss chard and discard.  Chop remaining swiss chard into bite size pieces and place in bowl.
• Wash and cut off tops/bottoms of beets and place on cooking sheet in a 350 degree oven for approximately 30 minutes or until beets can be pierced easily with a fork.  (I like to wrap each beet in foil individually before placing in oven.  This makes it easier to peel after they are done roasting.)

• Remove beets (and foil if using) from oven and rinse under cold water for a few seconds.  While still warm, cut beets into bite size pieces and toss with swiss chard in bowl.  This will lightly wilt the swiss chard.
• Right before serving, toss swiss chard and beet mixture with desired amount of olive oil, vinegar, goat cheese and salt/pepper.
• Toss well and serve.

Tzatziki Lamb Pita’s

(serves 4)

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup rice or almond flour
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon allspice
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 egg
• 1 pound ground lamb
• 7 scallions, thinly sliced, white and green parts divided
• 2 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, divided
• 1/2 cucumber, peeled and diced
• 1 cup whole milk plain yogurt
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon coriander
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons lemon peel, fresh
• 1/2 cup chopped mint
• 1/4 teaspoon cracked black pepper
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• crumbled feta

Instructions:

In a small bowl, combine the cucumber, yogurt, garlic, coriander, lemon juice, lemon peel, chopped mint, greens of the scallions, pepper and salt.  Set aside in refrigerator until ready to serve.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cumin, cinnamon, allspice, 1 teaspoon of the salt, and the pepper.  Add the egg and mix until combined.  Add the lamb and the white parts of the scallions.  Using your hands, combine the ingredients.  Add more flour, if needed, to hold the mixture together.  Form into 1 1/2″ balls, pressing to flatten slightly before cooking.

In a skillet over medium heat, heat 1 tablespoon of the oil.  Add the lamb balls and brown for about 5 minutes on each side.  Cover the skillet, reduce the heat to medium-low, and cook for 5 more minutes, or until the balls are no longer pink in the center.

To serve, fill half of pita pocket with 2 lamb balls and top with tzatziki sauce (yogurt dressing) and crumbled feta cheese.