Spice and seasoning make all the difference in making a dish go from pretty good to totally delicious!   When you are trying to get healthy and/or lose weight on a healthy eating plan like our Eat Live Thrive Diet it’s important to make sure every morsel you eat fully satisfies you.

In this dish,  we used a North African spice called Harissa paste.  It’s made with roasted peppers, spices, herbs, garlic and olive oil.  You can usually find it at your local grocery store or Trader Joe’s. If not there, you can get it online at Amazon.

If you’re getting tired of ground turkey or ground beef, lamb is a delicious alternative.  It is complimented wonderfully with Harissa paste. It is quite easy  to find good quality grass-fed ground lamb in most grocery stores. Though it is a little higher in fat, we do enjoy it as a quality protein source. We hope you enjoy this new recipe as much as we do!

UPDATE:   I recently made this dish and served it over Heart of Palm Rice and thought it was even more delicious than with the spaghetti squash.  Find the Heart of Palm rice Here!

One of the things we love about this dish is that it includes so many fresh, whole food ingredients and it’s super simple to make. Everything we used in the picture above is fresh with the exception of the organic chicken broth, frozen chopped garlic, olive oil, and Harissa paste. And even those are all organic, quality  choices. The riced cauliflower shown is an alternate option to the spaghetti squash and is super convenient because it’s pre-riced.  Use whichever appeals to you most.

We got most of our produce from Specialty Produce here in San Diego.  Everything we get from Specialty Produce is exceptional quality and super fresh.  If you are trying to find some sort of unique produce, they more than likely have it.  Take a look at the Bunapi mushrooms we used!  They are becoming a favorite with their unique texture and mild flavor, but you can use any type of mushroom you prefer.

Here is a list of the vegetables and herbs we got at from Specialty:

  • Japanese Eggplant
  • Red Onion
  • Roma Tomato
  • Bunapi Mushrooms
  • Fresh Mint Leaves
  • Italian Parsley
  • Spaghetti Squash

Of course, you can use many different veggies in this dish, such as zucchini, yellow squash, and bell peppers.

Peeling and chopping is the only real labor needed for this simple meal.
Chop the onion and place it in a  skillet with olive oil over a medium heat along with the pre-chopped frozen garlic (which I love for convenience) to caramelize for about 8-10 minutes.

Then, chop and peel the eggplant. We chose to peeled 1/2 of the eggplant and left the peel on the other half to add  more texture chopped that into small cubes.

Once the onion and garlic are slightly caramelized and browned a bit, add the ground lamb with salt, pepper, and garlic powder and dried herbs and cook until browned.  Then add the eggplant and mushrooms and cook for 1-2 minutes. Add the chicken broth and lower the heat to medium low, cover and cook for another 8-10 minutes.

Reduce heat to low and add the Harissa, fresh tomatoes and stir them until well combined.  Cover until ready to serve. Toss  in the fresh chopped parsley and mint just before plating.

Serve the lamb mixture over spaghetti squash that was precooked (in either the microwave or Instant Pot).  Add a dash of olive oil, salt, pepper and garlic powder and stir into the squash before plating. As already mentioned,  cauliflower rice is another tasty option with a great texture.

This meal is fully approved on our Eat Live  Thrive Diet.

Ingredients

  • 1 lb ground lamb
  • 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 medium red onion chopped
  • 2 cloves of chopped garlic (can use pre-chopped frozen)
  • 1 tsp salt
  • ½ tsp pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon granulated garlic
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried herb blend such as Italian, Greek or Herb’s D’Provence
  • 4-5 Japanese eggplant peeled and cubed
  • 1 cup sliced mushrooms
  • 1/2 cup chicken broth
  • 2 medium roma tomatoes diced
  • 1-2 tbsp harissa or other chili paste depending on how spicy you like
  • ¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
  • 3 tbsp chopped fresh mint
  • Spaghetti Squash

Optional:

Heart of Palm Rice or Riced Cauliflower instead of Spaghetti Squash

Directions:

Saute onions and chopped garlic in olive oil over medium heat until slightly brown and caramelized about 8-10 minutes.  Add in ground lamb, salt, pepper, granulated garlic and dried seasoning cook until completely browned.  Add eggplant and mushrooms and harisa for another 2 minutes.  Pour in chicken broth,  reduce heat to medium low and cover for 10 minutes.  Add tomatoes and reduce heat too low until ready to serve.  (We like spicy so we used 2 Tablespoons Harissa)  Add fresh herbs(reserve a small amount for garnish) just before serving, combine well,  Serve over cooked spaghetti squash or cauliflower rice.

For Spaghetti Squash

Microwave method: Pierce with knife, cook on high for 6 minutes.  Slice in 1/2, remove seeds, then continue to cook in microwave for 8-10 minutes depending on the size

Instant Pot: Pierce with knife,  place  whole in instant pot  on rack with 1 cup of water.  Pressure Cook 15 minutes.  Manual Steam release.  Cut open and allow to cool a bit before removing seeds.

Toss with a bit of salt and granulated garlic before topping with Moroccan Lamb.

For Cauliflower Rice: 

Microwave method: Cook on high in microwave safer dish  pre-riced cauliflower for 5-6 minutes

Stove Top:  In a large sauté pan over Medium heat cook pre-riced cauliflower until tender.

Heart of Palm Rice  heat and server as directed on the package.

Serves 4

Nutrition with 1 cup spaghetti squash:   cal 418,  carb 15 g, protein 22 g, fat 30g