Importance of Lamb Meat and Some of its Winter Recipes

Lamb is one of the major red meat sources for Australians, according to the statistics gathered by Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA), the per capita consumption of lamb averages 9.6 kg over the past five years. Lamb meat has major health benefits; therefore, it is necessary to keep it in your meal plans all year round. There are certain health benefits of lamb meat that should be known so that one can consciously try to make lamb meat part of one’s diet plans.

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Health Benefits Of Lamb

Rich Source of B Vitamins

Lamb meat has a lot of B Vitamins (Vitamin B3, B6, B5 and B12) and this set of vitamins is very crucial for a healthy and smooth functioning of nervous system. Vitamin B12 also helps the body in making new red blood cells which have a life span of 120 days. Since the body can’t produce vitamin b12 by itself, you have to get an adequate amount of it from animal-based foods and lamb meat is one of them.

Source of Heme Iron

Since lamb is a type of red meat, it contains more iron content than other protein sources such as eggs, fish and chicken. The other benefit of lamb meat is that unlike non-heme iron from plant foods, it contains heme iron which is easily absorbable than non-heme and makes it more effective in fighting the iron deficiency or anemia. According to a recent health index, more than one million Australians are iron deficient or anemic in 2016 and this number is swelling up every year. Therefore, make sure that you get sufficient iron in your diet and lamb meat can be a very good option of iron-rich food.

Non-Barbecue Lamb Recipes For Winter

During winter, it becomes difficult to barbecue outdoors, and due to that many people cut short their lamb meat consumption and as discussed earlier, there are major health benefits of lamb meat so try to make lamb meat part of your winter meal plans, you can try some of the following delicious and healthy winter lamb recipes.

Lamb Shanks

To make your cold and chilly winter night dinners warm and delicious, you can try out lamb shanks with a Moroccan spin in the recipe. Lamb shanks can be slow cooked for around 6 to 8 hours to get the best texture. If you like your recipe spicier, you can add a pinch of cayenne pepper and chilli.

Marinated Lamb Chops

If you love dry-aged meat recipes, you must try marinated lamb chops in the winters. You can use loin or tenderloin cuts to cook that recipe. Marinate that lamb cuts with rosemary, thyme, garlic, shallots and virgin olive oil and then broil them for 3 to 5 minute each side. Add lemon in the end to enhance the taste.

Pistachio-Crusted Roasted Rack

Try something new this winter with this recipe of roasted lamb. Add pistachio and herb butter with other ingredients of crusting. After a layer of crust adheres to the meat side of rack, roast it for over 10 minutes.

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