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28
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Lamb Skewers with Tahini-Yogurt Sauce |
I’m a very good friend. That’s why, when my friend and coworker Charlotte admitted it had been way too long since we hung out outside of work and invited herself over for some dinner and hot-tubbing, I happily obliged. On a gorgeous Friday evening I could have taken the easy route and ordered pizza (it would have been very nice pizza from my favorite local place, but still.) I knew she’d appreciate a home-cooked meal so I set out to find the perfect recipe. I couldn’t quite figure out what I was in the mood for, so I took a peek through my “meal ideas” folder in my internet favorites and soon realized I was craving lamb and delicious Mediterranean flavors and grilling. I knew Charlotte and my husband would be just as thrilled for this too.
This meal was not very hard to make at all, though you do need to leave yourself some time a few hours ahead of when you want to eat in order to prepare the skewers. I actually did this the night before. The only problem I had is that my wooden skewers almost completely burnt up on the grill. Yes, I know you are supposed to soak them. But, I just skipped this step since I figured they would dry up overnight anyway. My own fault. Of course, everything still tasted great. We enjoyed the lamb skewers along with some lightly grilled low-carb lavash, cucumber-tomato-feta salad, and some seasoned grilled eggplant. Everything was complimented wonderfully by the garlicky tahini sauce (ok, so I probably used more garlic than what was called for – good thing we all like it!). The sauce was so good that we had to search the fridge for some impromptu crudites to scoop up the extra. Overall, this was a wonderful meal to celebrate a beautiful Friday night with a good friend!
1 pound ground lamb
8 ounces nonfat Greek style yogurt, divided
1/4 cup finely chopped cilantro
1/4 cup finely chopped yellow onions
2 tablespoons finely chopped mint
2 teaspoons Mediterranean seasoning (for example, Penzeys Greek Seasoning)
3 tablespoons tahini
juice from 1/2 of a lemon
2 cloves finely chopped garlic (1 would be fine, especially if you’re not a garlic lover)
Salt and pepper to taste
Pita or lavash flat bread
Soak the skewers in warm water while preparing the meat mixture (hopefully they don’t dry out on you!)
Combine the lamb, 1/2 of the yogurt, cilantro, onion, mint, and seasoning in a bowl. Mix well. Divide into 8 equal portions. Work each portion into a ball, slide it onto a skewer and gently form into a sausage shape. Place all of the prepared skewers on a baking sheet and refrigerate for several hours or overnight.
To make the sauce, combine remaining yogurt, tahini, lemon juice, garlic, salt & pepper in a blender and process until smooth, adding water to thin it out just a bit (you want it to remain slightly thick).
To serve, we lightly grilled pieces of lavash, topped them with a slice of eggplant, a lamb sausage, and drizzled the sauce over it. The combination with the smokey grilled eggplant was fantastic!
Nutritional Info (includes lamb and yogurt sauce only)
Servings Per Recipe: 4
Amount Per Serving
Calories: 419.8
Total Fat: 32.6 g
Cholesterol: 82.8 mg
Sodium: 98.4 mg
Total Carbs: 4.9 g
Dietary Fiber: 1.1 g
Protein: 26.3 g
I'm Cara, lover of creative, clean food and healthy living. Pumpkin, goat cheese, and eggplant make me swoon. I have an insatiable sweet tooth and desire to lift heavy things. 
Jason — April 28, 2009 @ 11:41 pm
“I want to go to there.”-Liz30 RockThat sounds delish!-JayUmass Che 2005
Kerstin — April 29, 2009 @ 3:58 am
You are a good friend – what a great meal! The garlic tahini sauce sounds heavenly!
Grace — April 29, 2009 @ 11:20 am
good friend? i’d say you’re a pretty great friend–what a feast! take-out pizza certainly couldn’t hold a candle to this. not much could, really. 🙂
Joelen — April 29, 2009 @ 1:11 pm
What a fabulous meal! Everything looks wonderful!
ellysaysopa.com — April 30, 2009 @ 2:05 am
Mmm everything looks so good! You know I love me some lamb AND tahini 🙂
jenn — April 30, 2009 @ 5:58 pm
That looks so good! I have metal skewers (you can buy them pretty much anywhere) so you don’t have to worry about soaking them. They came 12 to a package, so its plenty if you are doing that kind of recipe, and you can use them over and over again.Thanks for posting such a yummy dish!www.slim-shoppin.com
jenn — April 5, 2011 @ 1:20 am
That looks so good! I have metal skewers (you can buy them pretty much anywhere) so you don't have to worry about soaking them. They came 12 to a package, so its plenty if you are doing that kind of recipe, and you can use them over and over again.Thanks for posting such a yummy dish!www.slim-shoppin.com
Joelen — April 5, 2011 @ 1:20 am
What a fabulous meal! Everything looks wonderful!