1 cup white long grain rice
2 cups chicken stock
1 cup spinach
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon golden raisins
1 tablespoon dill

1. Melt butter in a sauce pan over medium-high heat and add the rice, stirring until lightly browned.
2. Add the chicken stock and raisins, cover and reduce heat to low, cooking until nearly all of the liquid has been evaporated.
3. Add the dill and spinach and stir until the spinach has wilted and mixed in to the rice.

Makes 8 servings

3 pound lamb roast
1 teaspoon dried dill
1 teaspoon dried mint
1 teaspoon dried oregano

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
2. Rub roast with dill, mint and oregano and place in a roasting pan uncovered.
3. Put the lamb in the oven and roast for 20 minutes, then decrease the heat to 325 degrees and continue to roast until a meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the roast reads 140 degrees, about 2 hours.
4. Allow meat to rest for at least 20 minutes before slicing.

Makes 1 roast

Tonight I made a little Greek Lamb Roast. I'd never actually prepared a lamb roast before and the meat itself is kind of strange. It's all very separated like it should've been braised or something instead of roasted. Regardless, the meat was still very tender and the light outer layer of fat was perfectly crisped with the flavors of mint, oregano and dill. You could smell it all the way down the hallway outside of our apartment! It's going to make some delicious pitas for lunch tomorrow, that's for sure.

I tried not to go overboard so I can space out many dishes for the rest of the week. I just made a simple salad of cucumber, tomatoes and green pepper with lemon juice and extra virgin olive oil and some Dilled Spinach Rice. I've never been able to find grape leaves in order to make dolmades, so this was my attempt at creating something that tasted similar to the vegetarian variety that I love so much. It's very easy to make and while it didn't taste much like dolmades, dill and rice is still very good together and the little hint of sweetness from the golden raisins is nice, as well.