Honey & Oregano Roasted Leg of Lamb with Vegetable Roasties

Ingredients

Lamb:

1kg leg of lamb, trimmed of all visible fat
2 large garlic cloves, sliced
8 sprigs oregano, each halved
2 tbsp pure floral honey
4 tsp Dijon mustard
2 tsp lemon juice

Vegetable Roasties:

3 Carisma potatoes
1 medium orange-fleshed sweet potato (about 500g)
2 medium parsnips (about 400g)
2 medium carrots (about 250g)
1/2 medium butternut pumpkin (about 700g)
3 teaspoons olive oil
Pinch salt (optional)
Freshly ground black pepper
4 sprigs rosemary, thyme or oregano, leaves removed from stems

To Serve:

Steamed, boiled or microwaved green beans.

Method

Lamb:

Preheat oven to 200ºC (400ºF/Gas 6). Place a rack in a roasting pan and add 1 cup water to the pan.

Use a small sharp knife to cut slits all over the surface of the lamb. Poke the garlic slices and sprigs of oregano into the slits.

Place the lamb on the rack in the roasting pan and roast for 30 minutes.

Combine the honey, mustard and lemon juice. Brush over the lamb and return to the oven for a further 20 minutes for medium or 30 minutes for well-done. Remove lamb from oven, cover loosely with foil and set aside in a warm place for 15 minutes to rest.

Carve the lamb and serve accompanied by the Vegetable Roasties and beans.

Vegetable Roasties:

Preheat the oven to 220ºC and line a roasting pan with non-stick baking paper.

Peel all the vegetables, deseed the pumpkin and cut the vegetables into 2.5cm chunks. Place them in the prepared roasting pan, drizzle with the olive oil and a tiny sprinkle of salt (if using), pepper and herbs. Use your hands (clean of course) to toss the vegetables to coat with the oil and seasonings.

Bake for 1 hour, or until golden and tender, tossing the vegetables about 3 times during cooking so that they brown and crisp evenly. Serve immediately with green beans.

Energy: 2110kJs; Protein 44g; Fat 13g (includes 5g saturated fat and 110mg cholesterol); carbohydrate 45g; Fibre 9g; sodium 200 mg

What with all those feasts and parties over the festive season, post-Christmas weight gain is pretty inevitable, right? Wrong, says glycemic index (GI) specialist Dr Alan Barclay, who insists that you can have your turkey and eat it, too. All you need to do is swap high GI foods for healthy low GI alternatives (like this one), and voila – delicious festive dining minus the unwanted weight gain.

To find out more about low GI eating, go to http://www.gisymbol.com.au/