Kofta Kebabs

I am about the happiest person on earth right now. Since moving to Arizona we vowed to try out different types of food to eat. We decided we wanted to stay really close to our house and found that there was a Greek/Mediterranean place called Good Fellas Grill a couple blocks down the road. I had never had Greek food so I was a little hesitant but I must say...Oh....my....goodness! Their food is amazing. Anyway, one of the things that I really like to get when we eat there (yes we have been back at least once a month since then) is the Kafta. I love it. Finally I decided to try my hand at it last night to see if I could get a recipe that was similar to theirs...well this one tastes pretty freaking fantastic. I whipped up a quick garlic dressing to go with it and bam...Good Fellas at home!
Here is the even better part....ITS DIET FRIENDLY!! Wahoo, a recipe that isn't chicken lol. Enjoy my friends!



This recipe came from allrecipes.com

4 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 pound ground lamb
3 tablespoons grated onion
3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1 tablespoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
28 bamboo skewers, soaked in water for 30 minutes

1. Mash the garlic into a paste with the salt using a mortar and pestle or the flat side of a chef's knife on your cutting board. 2. Mix the garlic into the lamb along with the onion, parsley, coriander, cumin, cinnamon, allspice, cayenne pepper, ginger, and pepper in a mixing bowl until well blended. Form the mixture into 28 balls. Form each ball around the tip of a skewer, flattening into a 2 inch oval; repeat with the remaining skewers. Place the kebabs onto a baking sheet, cover, and refrigerate at least 30 minutes, or up to 12 hours.
3. Preheat an outdoor grill for medium heat, and lightly oil grate.
Cook the skewers on the preheated grill, turning occasionally, until the lamb has cooked to your desired degree of doneness, about 6 minutes for medium.
4. Serve it up with some nice greek rice, pita bread, red onion, and tomatoes and you will be in heaven!

**Randi's Side Notes**
~ Good Fellas serves theirs up with a side of Garlic sauce. I tried out a recipe that was in the comments of the recipe and it was not the same thing as theirs, as it was very runny, but it actually still had great flavor and tasted very similar...and....is also diet approved!!!
4 gloves of garlic, peeled and crushed
1/4 c olive oil
juice of 1 lemon
1/4 teaspoon salt
throw it all in your blender and get it all combined!

~ Anti-Inflammatory Diet Friends: You don't have to change anything for this recipe and you can even have the sauce! Most places serve it up with pita bread and rice, but this would be great over a salad or just plain. You could also use ground turkey or chicken instead of the lamb!
~ I feared using so much cinnamon and allspice in this recipe so I did go just a smidge shy of what the recipe called for, and I thought it tasted great. I don't think you need to, because it wasn't as overpowering as I thought it would be. I also didn't add as much cayenne either because I am not a huge heat fan.
~ Also, I made mine with ground beef, but you could use any type of ground meat, veal, pork, turkey, lamb, whatever! It will come out amazing regardless.