Grilled Lamb Kofta (Meatballs) with Scarlet Quinoa Tomato Cucumber Salad

Koftas (Meatballs)

• 1/2 pound ground dark meat ground turkey
• 1/4 pound ground lamb
• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons sesame seeds
• 2 tablespoons tahini (sesame paste)
• 2 tablespoons champagne vinegar
• 2 stalks extremely fine-diced celery
• 1 teaspoon each of cumin, oregano, and paprika
• 3 tablespoons panko style bread crumbs
• season with salt to taste

Quinoa Salad

• the zest and juice of two lemons
• 1/2 an english cucumber finely diced
• 1 tablespoon mint, parsley, cilantro and dill
• 4 tomatoes - cut into bite size chunks (eights?)
• 2 stalks of finely diced celery
• 2 tablespoons cumin
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 cup plain yogurt
• 1 tablespoon ground coriander
• 1 tablespoon cumin
• juice of one lemon
• 1/3 cup Olive Oil

1. Mix all the Kofta ingredients together in a bowl - cover - and refridgerate while we make the Quinoa Salad
2. I make a cup of scarlet quinoa (add 1 cup of dry scarlet quinoa grain to 1 1/4 cup boiling chicken stock) stir in the quinoa - and simmer on low heat for 15 minutes - take off heat and leave covered for 5 minutes - then fluff with a fork. and set aside to cool.
3. Mix all the diced vegetables together and the olive oil, salting and peppering to taste.
4. I put the BBQ on high heat. Make kafta meatballs with a tablespoon - and then roll your meat balls in olive oil, fresh ground pepper, sesame seed and a little ground sea salt. these will grill very fast on the grille - literally - as you finish setting your meatballs down - immediately start turning them from where you started. MAX 1 minute on each side - then put them on a lightly oiled baking pan - and into the oven for five minutes at 350.
5. Mix the veggies and quinoa together. Add the quinoa a little at a time or it is liable to clump up. (not pretty)
6. Plate the still sizzling koftas fresh out of the oven on a bed of the scarlet quinoa salad - and garnish with the yogurt/coriander/lemon sauce.