Grilled Lamb Chops with Minted Yoghurt and New Potatoes

Ingredients

• 8 lamb loin chops
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 3 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• ½ tsp ground cumin
• 1 lemon, zest and juice
• 700g new potatoes, scrubbed and halved if large
• 20g unsalted butter
• 15g fresh flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
• 300g fine green beans, trimmed
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• ½ lemon, juice only
• 200g lactose-free natural yoghurt
• 20g fresh mint leaves, finely chopped, plus extra to finish
• 1 garlic clove, finely grated
• ½ lemon, juice only
• fresh mint leaves, to serve
• 1 lemon, cut into wedges, to serve
• dried chilli flakes, to serve
• Crusty bread, to serve
• Mixed leaf salad, to serve

Method

1. Put the lamb chops in a bowl with the olive oil, crushed garlic, dried oregano, ground cumin and the lemon zest and juice. Season generously with salt and pepper — lamb takes salt well, and this is your one chance to get it into the meat. Toss to coat and leave for at least 10 minutes while you get the rest moving. The cumin and oregano will bloom in the hot oil on the griddle, waking up and smelling of themselves rather than the spice jar.
2. Bring a large pan of well-salted water to the boil — it should taste like the sea. Tip in the new potatoes and cook for 18–20 minutes until a knife slides through with no resistance.
3. While the potatoes go, make the minted yoghurt. Stir the yoghurt, chopped mint, grated garlic and lemon juice together in a small bowl with a good pinch of salt. Taste it — you want the mint forward, the garlic present but not aggressive, and enough salt to make the whole thing sing. Refrigerate until you need it.
4. Set a steamer basket or colander over the potato pan for the last 6 minutes. Add the green beans, lid on, and steam for 5–6 minutes until bright green and snappy with a little bite — limp beans are a sad plate.
5. Get a griddle pan or heavy stainless or cast-iron pan ripping hot — you want it smoking before the lamb goes near it. Cook the chops in two batches if your pan can't take all eight in a single layer with space between them; crowd them and they steam in their own juices instead of charring. 3–4 minutes a side gives you deep griddle lines and a blush of pink at the bone. Rest on a warm plate for a couple of minutes — the juices need to settle back into the meat.
6. Drain the potatoes and return them to the warm pan off the heat. Add the butter and chopped parsley, season with salt and pepper, and toss until the butter slumps into a glossy coat. Taste one — adjust the salt now, not at the table.
7. Tip the steamed beans into a bowl, dress with the extra virgin olive oil and a squeeze of lemon juice, and season. The acid lifts them out of plain steamed-veg territory.
8. Spoon the minted yoghurt across a large serving platter in a thick, generous swoosh. Lay the rested lamb chops on top, then pile the buttered potatoes and dressed beans alongside.
9. Scatter torn mint leaves and a pinch of chilli flakes over the lamb, tuck the lemon wedges around the platter, and bring it to the table with the crusty bread and the bowl of mixed leaves. Squeeze a wedge over the chops as you serve — the acid cuts cleanly through the lamb fat.