Herbed Butterflied Leg of Lamb, Israeli Couscous & Zucchini Ribbons

It sounds good, doesn't it? The lamb didn't cook through, the couscous had too much parsley, but the zucchini was awesome. I used a Food and Wine recipe for the Herbed Leg of Lamb. It's basically a leg of lamb sliced open and stuffed with herbs and tied back up...in this case Parsley, Thyme, Marjoram, and Chives. I don't usually like to bite into Parsley, but I'm trying to be more flexible about this, so I used less than was called for. I didn't want to buy Marjoram just for this, so I substituted oregano. Chives have already started to grow in my garden (yeah!) from last year and I swiped some thyme into my parsley bag at the store. It would have been $10 just for herbs that I wouldn't have used for much else! The inside didn't cook, but the parts that cooked through were tasty. I think I like a garlicky, rosemary lamb instead, though.

The Israeli Couscous was a random purchase from TJ's, but I saw a recipe for Israeli Couscous with Parsley and Shallots in Everyday Food that also called for parsley (what else would I do with a whole bunch of it otherwise?) and decided to make it. Once again, I cut down the parsley in half (I'll cut it by 3/4 next time) and it was wonderful. I also actually cut the shallots and used the extra in the zucchini. You saute the dried couscous first, then add water and cook through and then add sauteed shallots, parsley and lemon. So good. Really chewy with a nutty flavor.

Then, I sliced a couple of zucchini longways into ribbons and sauteed them with the shallots and some Adobo seasoning. This was my favorite part of the meal actually and I just finished them with lunch.