Cooking Fresh on a Budget with Lamb

During the spring, thoughts turn to lamb, new potatoes and freshly dug carrots, to name but a bit of the bounty of the season. Lamb is often thought of as a special-occasion ingredient. With its so-called lesser cuts, a tasty lamb fix is still within reach.

In this season’s recipe, slow-cooked lamb shanks are paired with lemon-juice-roasted potatoes and carrots. Leftover lamb shank, once removed from the bone, along with the remaining gravy can be repurposed in potpies, or served over egg noodles.

For other meals that make the most of spring lamb:

• Try grilled shoulder blade chops with a salsa verde of garlic, parsley, capers, olive oil and orange zest, puréed in the blender.
• Lamb sausage is excellent roasted, grilled or braised, paired with cannellini beans and sautéed greens.
• On brisk spring days, make lamb stew with stout, new potatoes, mushrooms and carrots.
• Butterflied lamb leg can be slathered with a yogurt dressing that includes rosemary, garlic and lemon juice, then grilled.
• Chopped leftover lamb makes for a delicious and economical shepherd’s pie.

Try the Recipe: (Estimated cost for 2 servings: $19.71, or $9.86 per serving).