Recipe: Garlicky Lamb Loin over Chickpea & Tomato Salad with Lemony Feta Rosemary Vinaigrette

Use fad diets to help jump-start your healthy eating habits. Teaching you to combine really, really good for you things with not-so good for you things. Therefore, for this recipe, I have streched out the South Beach (salad with a small protein) meal model and combined it with a really good for you salad (chickpeas with tomatoes) with a fatty meat (but a lean cut no less) a dieter ought to have only semi-monthly (lamb).

A meal like this, once a week or semi-monthly, can sure diminsh the I'm on a diet blues and strengthen your I'm on a great diet! :) motivation.

Garlicky Lamb Loin over Chickpea & Tomato Salad with Lemony Feta Rosemary Vinaigrette:
(serves 2)

• 1 lamb loin, about 8 oz. (1/2 lb.)
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 large cloves of garlic, mashed
• 2 T. canola oil
• 1 can of chickpeas, strained & rinsed
• 1/2 c. grape or cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
• 4 c. mixed greens, mache mix or even spinach
• juice of 1 lemon
• zest of 1 lemon
• 1 T. rosemary, finely chopped
• 3 T. bulgarian feta cheese, fresh, broken up with your fingers
• 1/3 c. evoo or extra virgin olive oil (speaking of "evoo or extra virgin oilve oil", funny rachel ray slam site here)
• salt and pepper to taste

1. Heat a saute pan to high heat, when hot, drizzle in 3 T. canola oil and drop in the 2 crushed garlic cloves. Let garlic saute until dark golden brown, then remove (we are just scenting the oil - infusing garlic). Add the lamb loin and sear, all four sides, only flipping loin to next side when the previous side is golden brown. Remove from pan from heat, and lamb from pan and let rest on paper towel (about 5 minutes).
2. Toss together chickpeas, grape tomatoes and set aside.
3. Whisk lemon juice and lemon zest, season, then whisk in evoo. Drop in feta and rosemary.
4. Slice (the bias - at a 45 degree angle) lamb into 8-10 slices.

To serve: Toss feta rosemary and lemon vinaigrette with greens and chickpea mixture and place in center of plate. Fan lamb slices vertically, from top to bottom over salad and enjoy!