Yogurt Mint Sauce Recipe

As I've already professed, I love lamb even on its own—that richly flavored meat and luscious fat is a treat enough for me. But when presented with a good mint sauce with my lamb, I'm all over it. This complementary pairing is so ingrained in our collective palates, it's ancient: the Babylonians feasted on lamb with mint. The combo's been nearly impossible to resist ever since. Lore says England's Queen Elizabeth I issued a decree that lamb and mutton should only be eaten with bitter herbs in an effort to deter consumption and help the wool trade—but it backfired. So when I grilled a bunch of lamb chops recently, it seemed fitting to whip up a batch of mint sauce as an accompaniment.

As it was a particularly hot day when I made this, I felt the sauce should cool as well as enhance flavor, which led me to go the yogurt route. A cup of thick and tangy Greek yogurt mixed with a half a cup of chopped mint forms the base. Then garlic, lemon, cumin, cayenne, salt, and pepper are added to give it some extra notes underneath the dominant flavors. Served with lamb, this sauce is fantastic.

The yogurt did its job of providing a coolness to a hot dish eaten on a scorching day, while the mint cut through some of the heaviness of the lamb and delivered a more tempered flavor without diminishing the natural lamb-iness. The freshness of mint was enhanced by the lemon, which made the dish seem altogether more seasonally appropriate. I ate one chop sans-sauce to get my naked lamb fill, but once I dipped my my second chop in this sauce, I couldn't have another bite without it.