Grill/Barbecue

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

August 11, 2010
0
0 Ratings
  • Serves 8 meatballs - two to four people depending appetite
Author Notes

I love meatballs - Italian style or otherwise - and this recipe came from looking for an alternative that took advantage of my favorite springtime veggies - as well as finding a way to make greek meatballs in a healthy dish. —Robert McDiarmid

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Ingredients
  • 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
Directions
  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.
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3 Reviews

lastnightsdinner August 11, 2010
Wow, these look and sound great - love kofta, and I'm a big fan of quinoa, too.
Sagegreen August 11, 2010
I wasn't going to browse recipes tonight, because I hope to make one more recipe myself...but your scarlet quinoa pulled me in! This sounds wonderful!
Robert M. August 11, 2010
The Kofta's a spicy and hearty - and the quinoa salad underneath is lemony and fresh. It's pretty yummy if I do say so myself. :)