Merguez Lamb Burgers from Famed SF Chef at Sun Basket

(Gerry Furth-Sides) The more we use Sun Basket meals, the more we love their refined ethnic inspired recipes such as this week’s Moroccan Merquez Patties with Warm Carrot Salad.  What sets Sun Basket apart is the extraordinary quality of their ingredients for the professional quality, inventive, ethnic-inspired meals from none other than Chef Justine Kelly, who helped make San Francisco’s Slanted Door restaurant famous.

The finished meal is flooded with color and texture along with flavor

The merguez sausages are prepared as patties rather than as long, hot-dog style.  Chef Kelly adds interesting herbed “carrot slabs” rather than shredded or horizontally sliced carrots She adds her own informative note: “Baharat, the Arabic word for ‘spices,’ is a blend that typically includes coriander, cumin, black peppercorns, and cardamom. It’s commonly used in Middle Eastern cooking for everything from roasted meats and stews to salads and curries.”

Sun Basket is a meal delivery service that rightfully prides itself on “making healthy cooking easy.”  It incorporates organic and non-GMO ingredients into their Paleo, Vegetarian, Seafood, Poultry and Family meal kits.  One App allows a subscriber to view all recipes, skip weeks, and manage an account.

We start with a box at our door, with a carefully packed brown “grocery bag” and a package of ground lamb with its own insulation.  The insulation alone seems to be worth the price of admission.  The pieces carry thoughtful instructions to separate and recycle.

Sun Basket’s Solid insulation with recyclable bags gives instructions to pour out the water into the (green) recycle bin, the wrapping in the blue (paper) recycle bin

Marquez Patties with Warm Carrot Salad. 

Ingredients in the bag serve 2 (2 bags serves 4)

• 3 tablespoons roasted almonds
• 1 teaspoon baharat
• 3 or 4 carrots (about 10 ounces total) (see Market Watch note)
• 10 ounces ground lamb
• 3 or 4 sprigs fresh cilantro
• Merguez spice blend (fennel seed – sweet paprika – granulated garlic – cumin – coriander)
• 1 wedge preserved lemon
• 3 ounces baby greens (such as arugula or spinach)
• 2 tablespoons golden raisins
• Sun Basket creamy tahini dressing (lemon juice – tahini – paleo mayo – fresh garlic)

Contents of the bag. Sauces are prepared and bottled in plastic jars

Our notes:  Preparing the lamb patties a day ahead, and refrigerating overnight also infuses the flavor more whether it is done as a time saver or not.

We also found that the carrots with their thinner ends were a challenge to cut into the slabs.

Market Watch
Another helpful note regards market availability. When whole carrots are in short supply, organic baby or shredded carrots may be substituted.

Instructions

Wash produce before use

Prep and toast the almonds

• Coarsely chop the almonds.
• Measure out ½ teaspoon (1 tsp) baharat; set aside the rest for the carrots.

In a large frying pan over medium heat, warm 1 teaspoon (2 tsp) oil until hot but not smoking. Add the almonds and ½ teaspoon (1 tsp) baharat, season with salt and pepper, and cook stirring frequently, until toasted and fragrant, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer to a plate. Do not clean the pan.

Prep and cook the carrots

• Scrub or peel the carrots and trim off the ends; cut the carrots lengthwise into quarters, then on the diagonal into 2-inch lengths.

In the same pan used for the almonds, if dry, add 2 to 3 teaspoons oil. Warm over medium heat until hot but not smoking. Add the carrots and remaining baharat, season with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the carrots are lightly browned and crisp-tender, 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer to a plate. Do not clean the pan.
While the carrots cook, prepare the lamb patties.

Prep and cook the lamb patties

• Cut a small corner from the ground lamb packaging and drain off any excess liquid. Transfer to a plate; pat dry with a paper towel.
• Coarsely chop the cilantro; set aside half for the salad.

In a medium (large) bowl, combine the lamb, merguez spice blend, and half the cilantro. Season generously with salt and pepper and mix gently until just combined. Using wet hands, form the mixture into four (eight) ½-inch-thick patties.
In the same pan used for the carrots, warm 1 to 2 tablespoons oil over medium-high heat until hot but not smoking. Working in batches if needed, add the patties and cook, turning once, until browned and cooked through, 3 to 5 minutes per side. Add more oil between batches if needed. Transfer to a plate.
While the patties cook, prepare the carrot salad.

Carrot salad

• Remove any pulp from the preserved lemon; finely chop the peel.
• In a large bowl, toss together the carrots, preserved lemon, baby greens, golden raisins, remaining cilantro, and half the creamy tahini dressing (set aside the remaining dressing for serving). Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Serve

Transfer the carrot salad to individual bowls and top with the lamb patties. Garnish with the almonds. Serve the remaining dressing on the side.

Kids Can measure the baharat, scrub the carrots and remove the pulp from the preserved lemon, toss the salad.