June 11: Lamb Chops and Early Spring Salad

2 small racks of lamb, cut into chops
   Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 large garlic clove, cracked out of its skin
1 fennel bulb, quartered, cored, and thinly sliced
1 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup fresh mint leaves
6 radishes, thinly sliced
6 scallions, chopped
4 celery ribs from the heart with leafy greens, chopped
1 romaine lettuce heart, shredded
1/3 pound ricotta salata or feta cheese, crumbled
   Zest and juice of 2 lemons
   Extra-virgin olive oil, for generous drizzling
   Crusty bread, to pass at the table

Preheat the broiler to high.

Arrange the chops on a slotted broiler pan and season with salt and pepper on both sides.

Rub a large salad bowl with the cracked garlic. Toss in the fennel, parsley, mint, radishes, scallions, celery, and lettuce. Sprinkle the cheese over the top, then dress with the lemon zest and juice and a generous drizzle of EVOO. Season the salad with salt and pepper to taste.

Broil the lamb chops for 2 minutes on each side for rare, up to 4 minutes on each side for well done.

Serve the chops alongside piles of salad and pass the crusty bread.

4 SERVINGS

I halved this recipe today and I could not find rack of lamb at the grocery store, so I bought 2 lamb chops. I had to cook them longer than the recipe said, since I'm pretty sure they're thicker than if you cut them from a rack. I also only bought 2 because my husband and I don't need more meat than that. I love lamb, but he doesn't like it that much anyway. I also had to make him different salad. He doesn't like any of these ingredients except for lettuce and cheese. I used 1/2 romaine heart, and he got the other half. We added some bottled dressing to our salad, so it was really good. I left out the head of radicchio the recipe called for. We don't like it and can always do without. I also added to the recipe that you could use feta as well as ricotta salata since it's impossible to find in these parts.