TGIFood

Leftover Greek lamb salad with tzatziki — and braaied cumin lamb

Deboned leg of lamb with cumin. (Photo: Tony Jackman)

20 Nov 2024

A leg of lamb costs a small fortune – but divide into two meals for four or more and your costs are halved. The meat left over becomes a second meal the next day.

I braaied a deboned leg of lamb for friends at the weekend and, even though they got truly stuck in, there was nevertheless plenty left over. The next evening we had a second, cooler lamb feast – of this salad of leftover lamb with fresh and lively Greek flavours.

It’s all about the tzatziki, for me: the double-cream yoghurt mixed with grated cucumber, finely chopped fresh garlic, lemon juice and extra virgin olive oil.

But there’s cucumber in the salad too, diced this time, as well as halved baby roma tomatoes, lettuce, a sliced red onion and kalamata olives. Once this has been assembled, with a layer of frilly lettuce at the base of a salad bowl topped with the chopped salad, you endow it with slices of lamb from that roast the day before, scatter creamy sheep’s feta over and finish it with spoonfuls of the extremely moreish, perky tzatziki.

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But don’t forget the dressings – the lettuce needs to be tossed in a small amount of fancy extra virgin olive oil, and a drizzling of Rozendal fynbos vinegar (or the best vinegar you have, not too astringent).

Then, a few grindings of salt and black pepper and you’ve got way more bang for your buck.

Deboned leg of lamb with cumin. (Photo: Tony Jackman)

For the braaied deboned leg of lamb the previous evening, I mixed olive oil with ground cumin, basted the leg with it, seasoned it with salt and black pepper and braaied it on medium coals, turning often, for about 30 to 40 minutes. The cooking time depends on how thick and heavy the joint is. Test with a skewer for the juices to run pink, for medium rare.

This salad needs a broad bowl rather than a deep one, for all the ingredients to share the limelight. The deep white platter/bowl in the photo was perfect for the job – much like a traditional serving platter but with deep sides as well, so that it is ideal for a salad for a gathering.

Tony’s leftover lamb Greek salad with tzatziki

(Serves 4)

Ingredients

Leftover lamb, refrigerated overnight

Frilly lettuce, enough to cover the base of your salad bowl

16 to 20 baby roma tomatoes, sliced in half lengthways

⅔ of a fairly large cucumber, peeled and cubed (retain the other ⅓ for the tzatziki)

1 medium red onion, peeled and sliced

12 to 16 kalamata olives, halved or sliced

3 Tbsp lemon juice

3 Tbsp olive oil

200 g creamy sheep’s milk feta cheese

Salt and black pepper to taste

Tzatziki:

1 cup double-cream plain yoghurt

⅓ the abovementioned cucumber, grated

2 fat garlic cloves, very finely chopped

2 Tbsp fresh mint chopped very finely

3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice

Salt and black pepper to taste

Method

Slice the lamb into strips, or pull it apart by hand, and leave it to one side.

In a bowl, mix all the tzatziki ingredients, and season with salt and black pepper.

Rinse and dry the lettuce, put it in a bowl, drizzle in the vinegar and olive oil, toss a few times, and arrange it in the bottom of a broad salad bowl.

Prepare the salad ingredients (the cucumber, tomatoes, red onion and olives), put them in a bowl, add lemon juice and olive oil, and toss.

Spoon the salad over the lettuce in the bowl.

Arrange slices of lamb on top, followed by blobs of the creamy feta, and spoon the tzatziki here and there. It needs no other accompaniment. DM

Tony Jackman is twice winner of the Galliova Food Writer of the year award, in 2021 and 2023

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This dish is photographed on a white platter by Mervyn Gers Ceramics.

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