So our Spring Break was earlier this month, right at the start of the time when schools in Houston were closing down. (Technically, classes ended a day early.) Many people who had planned to go on trips cancelled them, us included. To try and make up for not going on vacation, I planned some special dinners for the family as a treat. Between that and our grocery store running very low on usual meats (chicken, beef, pork) and rationing what was left, I walked over to the other side of the butcher department and picked up some lamb, which there was plenty of. Our store carries both chops and ground lamb — an absolute staple in an omnivorous Lebanese woman’s kitchen — so I got some of both.

Today I’m sharing a very easy recipe for lamb chops that doesn’t require herculean efforts at either procuring ingredients or kitchen skills. I hope you enjoy it!

Non-Herculean Lamb Chops

ingredients:
*  lamb chops
*  minced garlic
*  sea salt (but any fine-ground salt will do)
*  black pepper
*  baking spray

Begin by preheating your oven’s broiler. If you don’t have a broiler setting, then go with 450 degrees. (My oven has a convection setting, which I generally use because it cooks things faster and more evenly, but you don’t need convection for this recipe.)

Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil (to make clean-up much, much easier) and put a grill rack on top of it. Spray the rack generously with baking spray.

Rinse the lamb chops and gently pat dry. (Side note: my friend Anish always teases when we rinse off raw meat. As he puts it, “That was inside an animal. You’re not going to get it clean!” But old habits die hard. So I rinse the chops when they come out of the package.)

Sprinkle salt and pepper (to taste) on both sides of each chop. Then rub both sides with the minced garlic. Really coat the chops in the garlic for the most flavor, but if you don’t think garlic is one of the Foods Of The Gods, then you might choose to go easy on it. Up to you.

Place the chops on the rack resting over the cookie sheet. Once the oven is preheated, place them in the middle of it. Roast for 6-9 minutes on each side. I prefer my lamb chops medium-rare for the most tenderness, juiciness, and flavor, but you do you. Here’s a handy chart for the proper internal temperatures of various cooked meats. How long you keep them in there will depend on the thickness of the chops (roast longer for thicker ones) and the efficiency of your oven.

Let the lamb chops sit for a moment after you take them out of the oven.

Serve them with rice pilaf, a hearty green salad, and some yeast rolls. (We are big fans of Sister Schubert’s ourselves, and no, they haven’t given me anything to promote their product.) When I’m using a steam-in-the-pouch package of pilaf, I can do all the rest of side dishes while the lamb chops are in the oven.

And that’s it! Super easy, quite yummy — and it doesn’t take long, either. If you try this recipe, post in the comments how it turned out for you!