Lamb koftas

Last night for dinner we had lamb koftas.

I really like koftas for a variety of reasons. It's a great way to eat lam that's lean and relatively inexpensive. They're a change from an everyday burger, which I guess is exactly what they are in a deconstructed kind of way. Oh yes and they're yummy.

Koftas are essentially a big meatball on a stick.

I served these in Lebanese bread with tabbouleh, lettuce, and Greek yogurt.

Simple and delish.

My camera was having a bit of a moment so sorry the photo isn't so great.

Lamb Koftas

Bamboo skewers (soak for an hour in water to stop sticking)

500g minced lamb

1/2 an onion finely diced

1 clove garlic, crushed

1 teaspoon cumin

zest of 1/2 a lemon

handful of chopped parsley

To serve

Lebanese bread

tabbouleh

Greek yogurt

salad of choice eg lettuce avocado etc

1. Combine lamb, onion, garlic, lemon, cumin and parsley in a bowl.

2. Form sausage shapes around bamboo skewers (my recipe made 10).

3. Refrigerate 1/2 an hour.

4. Cook on a BBQ or chargrill about 15 minutes till cooked (I browned mine and then finished them in the oven).

5. Serve in Lebanese bread with salads.

Enjoy!

Nigella inspired coleslaw

Here is a brief history of my relationship with coleslaw.

When KFC opened in Sydney back in the 1970's it was the only place you could buy pre-prepared salads and so my mum would sometimes go get the coleslaw and bean salad. I thought the bean salad was gross but LOVED the coleslaw.

When I went away to university I was less than enamoured by the campus cafeteria food but I lived on campus for three years so I had to eat it. Every single lunch time I ate coleslaw and an apple and usually 1/2 a sandwich but not always if they happened to have something palatable for a change. I'm pretty sure that coleslaw and apple stopped me from getting scurvy and many other things because they were my daily does of fibre in between the coffee and donuts and cheap alcoholic beverages that all students live on.

Unsurprisingly when I left college I couldn't actually even look at coleslaw for the next ten years. I had more than had my fill. By this stage all the supermarkets carried pre-made coleslaw exactly like the stuff I had at college but I never really bought it because my husband and daughter don't like coleslaw.

So to the now about three years ago I was watching an episode of Nigella Lawson on the ABC. I couldn't even tell you which series it was on but she was making coleslaw to take on a picnic. She used buttermilk and nuts and maple syrup in the dressing. It looked yummy.

I didn't have the recipe and I just never ever use enough buttermilk to justify purchasing it because I always end up throwing it out. So I adapted the recipe and here it is below.It's a great low budget recipe as well.

 Even if you don't like coleslaw you should try it because my husband and daughter love this and still claim not to like coleslaw. We like it with pulled pork on buns (very American) and also as a side with oven fried chicken.

If you have a food processor use that to shred the cabbage and grate the carrot. It then makes this 5 minute coleslaw as well

My coleslaw

1/4 cabbage, shredded
4 carrots grated
1/4 cup chopped nuts (walnuts or pecans work best)
1/4 cup whole egg mayonnaise
1 tablespoon maple syrup
1 teaspoon dill
3 tablespoons milk
1 tablespoon white vinegar
squeeze lemon juice
salt and pepper

1. Combine shredded cabbage, grated carrot and chopped nuts in a bowl.
2. Combine all other ingredients in a bowl and whisk until smooth.
3. Combine dressing and vegetables.
4. Leave in fridge to let flavours meld for about 15 minutes before serving.

Enjoy!

Summer lentil salad

In summer, just like everyone else, we eat lots of salads. This is a simple lentil salad that is a twist on tabbouli. I had planned to make that but inexplicably I was out of burghul. It's funny that because burghul and polenta and cous cous seem to be strange items that either multiply or vanish from my pantry -in this case it was vanish.

Anyway this recipe uses, herbs, tomato and spring onions just like tabbouli but tinned brown lentils instead of burghul (cracked wheat) which made it super quick as I didn't need to waste time waiting for the burgul to soak. The addition of lentils makes it a good option for adding extra fibre to the diet, also a good thing as we start the New Year with all the usual resolutions for healthy eating.

We had ours with fish done on the bbq but this would be nice with grilled chicken or a nice lamb chop as well.

Summer Lentil Salad
1 tin brown lentils, drained and rinsed
8 cherry tomatoes quartered (you could easily dice a whole tomato)
3 spring onions sliced
1/4 cup of baby spinach leaves, shredded
100g feta crumbled
juice of 1/4 lemon
olive oil
salt and pepper

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and chill till ready to serve. Serves 4.