Easter salad and Braised Lamb Shank

Easter is the most important Christian religious holiday and widely regarded as the second most popular holiday in general after Christmas. Did you know that the word "breakfast" originates from "breaking the fast" after a 40 day lent period preceding Easter?

 Beautifully aranged, the Bulgarian festive table offers colorful eggs, braised lamb, leafy green salad and sweet bread called Kozunak.

Easter salad contains boiled eggs, green onions, fresh lettuce leaves, parsley, red radishes,  and green leaves of garlic, which for some reason are not sold in Canada, but can be replaced by chives or couple minced cloves of garlic. The dressing for this colorful spring treat is made of sunflower oil, apple or red wine vinegar, and salt. Additionally cucumbers, grape tomatoes or Kalamata olives can be added to enrich its appearance.

The lamb meat is seasoned with mint, garlic, paprika; lovage, onions, S&P, sunflower oil, red wine, and water are added as well then slowly braised for hours under a lid until it becomes tender, fall-off-the-bone meat. I chose to add mushrooms to the end of cooking for extra flavor.