Lamb Chops with Pomegranate-Fig Relish

Ever since I came to live in North Carolina, I've come to truly appreciate seasonality with fruits and vegetables. This past year I had many weeks of fresh produce that changed from month to month. I'm even starting to anticipate the arrival of various items at the grocery store. This is mostly because (and this may sound dumb) produce in its season is just so much better. Strawberries are the most salient example: we now have strawberries year round, but they are really at their peak of flavor in summer. Right now, pomegranates are in season, so I've taken advantage of these beautiful fruit to make an easy weeknight dinner.


I bought two pomegranates and de-ariled them while watching TV. Two pomegranates yielded enough arils to fill a large cylindrical Chinese take-out container. For dinner, I made lamb chops with pomegranate-fig relish. You first grill up the lamb chops with a little salt, pepper and cumin. Then you top it with a mixture of pomegranate arils, chopped dried figs (I prefer the black ones), mint, cumin, molasses, and olive oil. The relish forms a lively mixture that complements the lamb (mint and lamb is a combination as old as mint jelly). On the side, I served some couscous and broccolini sauteed with olive oil to keep with a Middle Eastern-ish flair. This dinner was great during the work week because the amount of time it takes to prepare is just about equal to the time it takes to cook the lamb.