Tandoori Lamb with Mint-Yogurt Chutney, Cashews, Coconut-Turmeric Cauliflower Rice, and CUMIN-Coriander Roasted Vegetables

Tender grass-fed lamb marinated in yogurt, ginger, garlic, and warm tandoori spices, roasted until juicy and charred at the edges, then sliced over golden coconut-turmeric cauliflower rice. A cool, bright mint-yogurt chutney, crunchy roasted cashews, and a pan of cumin-and-coriander roasted vegetables complete the plate.

Yield: Serves 4–6 · Active: 40 min · Total: 1 hr 30 min (plus 4–24 hours marinating) · Year-round (in North America, cauliflower and carrots are at their best from fall through winter, and zucchini in summer) · Best eaten: early evening

Complete Menu

• Tandoori Lamb

• Coconut-Turmeric Cauliflower Rice

• Mint-Yogurt Chutney

• Cumin-Coriander Roasted Vegetables

• Roasted Cashews

Your Game Plan

• 4–24 hours ahead: Marinate the lamb.

• About 1 hr 30 min out: Pull the lamb from the fridge. Heat the oven to 400°F.

• About 1 hr 15 min out: The lamb goes in (sirloin cooks faster; see Recipe 1). Make the chutney and chill it.

• About 40 min out: The roasted vegetables go in.

• About 20 min out: Toast the cashews. Take the lamb out to rest when it's done.

• About 10 min out: Make the cauliflower rice.

• Slice the lamb and plate.

Recipe 1 — Tandoori Lamb

Ingredients

• 1½–2½ lb grass-fed lamb: a small boneless leg of lamb, or lamb sirloin

Tandoori marinade

• ½ cup thick sheep's or goat's milk yogurt

• 1 tbsp fresh ginger, grated

• 3 garlic cloves, grated

• 1 tsp ground cumin

• 1 tsp ground coriander

• 1 tsp ground turmeric

• 1 tsp garam masala

• ½ tsp sweet paprika (or Kashmiri chili powder, for traditional color and gentle heat)

• Juice of ½ lemon

• 1½ tsp Baja Gold sea salt

Method

1. Marinate. Whisk together the marinade ingredients. Pat the lamb dry, score the surface lightly so the marinade can sink in, and coat it all over. Cover and refrigerate 4–24 hours. The yogurt gently tenderizes the meat, but much past a day it can turn the surface soft.

2. Take the chill off. Pull the lamb from the fridge about 45 minutes before roasting, and heat the oven to 400°F.

3. Roast. Wipe off any thick clumps of marinade, leaving a thin coating, and set the lamb on a rack over a parchment-lined sheet pan. Roast until the center reads about 130°F for medium-rare: roughly 25–35 minutes for lamb sirloin, or 45–60 minutes for a 2- to 2½-lb boneless leg.

4. Char (optional). For tandoori-style charred edges, switch to broil for the last 2–3 minutes, watching closely.

5. Rest 10–15 minutes, loosely tented, before slicing. The temperature will climb to about 135°F as it rests, and the juices will settle back into the meat.

6. Slice thinly against the grain.

Recipe 2 — Coconut-Turmeric Cauliflower Rice

Ingredients

• 1 large head cauliflower (about 4 cups riced)

• 1 tbsp ghee or coconut oil

• 1 tsp fresh ginger, grated

• 1 tsp ground turmeric (or 1 tbsp grated fresh turmeric)

• Pinch of black pepper (it helps your body absorb the turmeric)

• ⅓ cup full-fat coconut cream

• ½ tsp Baja Gold sea salt

• ¼ cup fresh cilantro, chopped

• Juice of ½ lime

Method

1. Rice the cauliflower. Cut it into florets and pulse in a food processor, in batches, until it looks like rice. Stop before it turns mushy.

2. Bloom the spices. Heat the ghee in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the ginger, turmeric, and pepper and stir 30 seconds until fragrant.

3. Cook. Add the cauliflower and cook 4–5 minutes, stirring, until it starts to soften.

4. Add the coconut cream and salt and cook 2–3 minutes more, until the cauliflower is tender but still has texture and the cream has been absorbed.

5. Finish with the cilantro and lime juice.

Recipe 3 — Mint-Yogurt Chutney

Ingredients

• ¾ cup thick sheep's or goat's milk yogurt

• 1 large handful fresh mint leaves (about 1 cup packed)

• ½ cup fresh cilantro, leaves and tender stems

• Juice of 1 lime

• ½ tsp ground cumin (toasted, if you like)

• ½ tsp Baja Gold sea salt

• Optional: ½ small green chile, for heat

Method

Blend everything until smooth and bright green. Taste and adjust the lime and salt. Chill until serving.

Recipe 4 — Cumin-Coriander Roasted Vegetables

Ingredients

• ½ head cauliflower, cut into florets (or 2 cups green beans, trimmed)

• 3 carrots, cut into sticks

• 2 medium zucchini, cut into thick half-moons

• 3 tbsp ghee or extra virgin olive oil, melted

• 1 tsp ground cumin

• 1 tsp ground coriander

• ¾ tsp Baja Gold sea salt

• Squeeze of fresh lemon

Method

1. Toss the vegetables with the ghee, cumin, coriander, and salt.

2. Roast in a single layer at 400°F. Start the carrots and cauliflower first for 15 minutes, then add the zucchini (and green beans, if using) and roast 15–20 minutes more, until everything is tender and caramelized at the edges.

3. Finish with a squeeze of lemon.

Roasted Cashews

Toast ½ cup raw cashews in a dry skillet over medium heat, stirring, 4–5 minutes until golden. Sprinkle with a pinch of salt and roughly chop.

Plating

Spoon a bed of coconut-turmeric cauliflower rice onto each plate and fan the sliced lamb over the top. Spoon on the mint-yogurt chutney, scatter with chopped roasted cashews and fresh cilantro, and serve the roasted vegetables alongside, with extra lime wedges at the table.

Storage

• Cooked lamb: Refrigerated up to 4 days, or frozen up to 3 months

• Cauliflower rice: Refrigerated up to 3 days

• Mint-yogurt chutney: Refrigerated up to 3 days

• Roasted vegetables: Refrigerated up to 4 days. Reheat at 400°F for 5 minutes

• Roasted cashews: In an airtight jar up to 2 weeks

Leftover transformations: Slice cold lamb into lettuce cups with the chutney and cashews, or fold it into the cauliflower rice with an egg for a quick, golden fried-rice-style breakfast.

Support for the Female Infradian Rhythm

This warming, spiced plate is especially restorative during the menstrual and luteal phases. Grass-fed lamb brings heme iron (the body absorbs about 15–35% of heme iron, compared with roughly 2–20% of the iron in plants), plus zinc and B12 for menstrual replenishment. Ginger has been well studied for easing menstrual cramps, turmeric's curcumin helps calm inflammation, and cauliflower's glucosinolates support estrogen metabolism through Phase 2 liver detoxification. Cashews add magnesium, especially welcome in the luteal phase.

Nourishment Notes

Grass-fed lamb — heme iron, B12, zinc, selenium, CLA, and complete protein.

Sheep's and goat's milk yogurt — protein, calcium, and mostly A2-type casein. In the marinade, its gentle acidity tenderizes the lamb; in the chutney, it's never heated, so its live cultures stay intact.

Turmeric — curcumin, which your body absorbs much better with black pepper and fat, both of which are in the cauliflower rice.

Ginger and garlic — gingerols and allicin, traditionally used to support digestion.

Cumin, coriander, and garam masala — warming spices traditionally used to support digestion, rich in aromatic compounds like cuminaldehyde and linalool.

Cauliflower — glucosinolates, choline, vitamin C, and vitamin K.

Carrots and zucchini — beta-carotene, potassium, and vitamin C.

Coconut cream — lauric acid, a medium-chain fat, plus a rich, creamy body for the rice.

Mint and cilantro — menthol, which soothes digestion, plus chlorophyll and vitamin K.

Cashews — magnesium, copper, and zinc.

Lime and lemon — vitamin C and d-limonene.

Sourcing

• Lamb — 100% grass-fed boneless leg of lamb or lamb sirloin, from a local farm, White Oak Pastures, or US Wellness Meats

• Sheep's or goat's milk yogurt — organic, plain, and full-fat; raw from a local dairy, or Bellwether Farms sheep's milk yogurt

• Coconut cream — organic and full-fat, with just coconut and water; Native Forest Simple comes in BPA-free cans (chill a can of coconut milk and scoop off the thick top layer)

• Cashews — organic. Every cashew sold, even "raw," has been heat-treated to remove the caustic oil in its shell

• Cauliflower, carrots, zucchini, and green beans — organic, from a farmers' market

• Fresh ginger, turmeric, garlic, mint, cilantro, limes, and lemons — organic

• Spices (cumin, coriander, turmeric, garam masala, paprika or Kashmiri chili, black peppercorns) — organic and non-irradiated. Burlap & Barrel and Diaspora Co. source single-origin spices directly from small farms; buy whole and grind fresh when you can

• Ghee or coconut oil — grass-fed ghee, or organic, virgin, unrefined coconut oil

• Extra virgin olive oil — organic, single-estate, harvest-dated within the past year, in dark glass

• Baja Gold sea salt

— Anna aka Food Marshall