Grilled Lamb or Goat Leg Steak, Marinated Chickpeas, Watercress

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Lamb or goat leg steaks are a great cut to add to your repertoire. They’re flavorful and tender, just like a leg of lamb, but you don’t have to buy or cook an entire whole leg. To sweeten the deal, our grass-fed lamb and goat legs at Shepherd Song are healthier, and milder tasting than commercial lamb you might see in the supermarket. Besides, who doesn’t like throwing a nice, big piece of meat on the grill?

Goat leg steak with chickpeas

This goat leg steak is just seasoned with salt and pepper, allowing the full meat flavor to be center stage, but it would work just as well with lamb too. If you have extra time season it in advance and let it sit in the refrigerator overnight, or what’s called a dry brine, to help get moisture out and ensure you have a nice, golden-brown sear.

The recipe includes a chilled salad of marinated chickpeas, with carrots and a bit of cumin. The carrots and cumin love each other! The garden salad of watercress if available or other small greens such as lambs quarter, purslane, wild mustard greens, chickweed and edible flowers add to the presentation, feel free to add any fresh greens you like or skip them altogether. Serve the chickpea salad at room temperature or chilled right out of the refrigerator, give a little toss and it is ready for formal or informal dinners.

Serve the leg steaks with the chickpea salad on the side.

This recipe is by James Beard Award-winning Chef Alan Bergo. He’s a chef from Minnesota and author of The Forager Chef’s Book of Flora. Learn more about Chef Alan at foragerchef.com.

Forager Chef Alan Bergo

Looking to buy lamb or goat online? Shepherd Song Farm: Grass to table. We raise lambs & goats traditionally, humanely and sustainably. 100% Grass Fed, Pasture Raised, Never Confined, no Hormones, Grains or Animal Byproducts. Born, raised and processed in the U.S.A. Good for you and good for the environment.

Goat leg steak on grill

More Grilled Lamb and Goat Recipes

Grilled Goat Heart Skewers

Grilled Goat Loin Chops

Pan Fried Goat Chops with Herb Butter

Grilled Goat Leg Steak with Marinated Chickpeas and Watercress

Goat leg steak with a salad of marinated chickpeas, and optional foraged greens like watercress.

Course Main Course

Cuisine American

Keyword Chickpeas, Goat, Watercress

Prep Time 30

Cook Time 10

Total Time 40

Servings servings

Calories 405kcal

Cost 10

Equipment

1 Grill
1 Tongs

Ingredients

Meat (Choose one)

4 Goat leg steaks
Kosher salt and pepper

Marinated Chickpeas

½ cup dried chickpeas or 1.25 cups canned, cooked chickpeas
4 cups water
½ teaspoon baking soda if using dried chickpeas
¼ teaspoon salt + ½ teaspoon salt
¼ cup scallions sliced
¼ cup virgin sunflower oil preferably Smudes, or extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice or more to taste
½ cup carrots shredded and peeled
2 small handful of watercress picked into 1-2 inch pieces, larger stem pieces removed
A small handful of cilantro coarsely chopped
½ teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon garlic finely minced (optional)

Instructions

Dry Brine the Steaks (optional)

Season the goat leg steaks with salt and pepper.
If you have time, allow the leg steaks to rest overnight in the fridge, uncovered, to help them brown more evenly.

Chickpea Salad

combine the dried chickpeas if using, water and baking soda and cook, uncovered at a simmer for 30 minutes. Season the chickpea water with ¼ teaspoon of salt, then cook for another 30 minutes or until tender.
Drain the chickpeas , while they’re still hot, combine with the salt, scallions, carrots, cumin, garlic and sunflower oil. Don’t cook the mixture, just warm to infuse. When the mixture is warm, set aside to cool.
Before serving the chickpeas, toss in the cilantro, mix in thoroughly to distribute the dressing, adjust the seasoning if needed and serve warm or at room temperature.

Goat or Lamb Leg Steaks

Heat a grill, preferably using wood charcoal and or wood chips. When the grill is hot, cook the leg steaks until they’re about 140 F, or medium.
Allow the steaks to rest for 5 minutes before plating while you dress the watercress lightly with lemon and olive oil.
Place each leg steak on a pre-warmed dinner plate, top with a spoonful of the chickpeas and some watercress salad and serve.