Grilled Lamb and Beef Kebabs with Quinoa Tabbouleh with Kale and Dried Cranberries

This was a pretty tasty meal, I had been wanting to make something else in Shuk and grilling is always a good option in the summer. I also wanted to use up the rest of the Red Pepper Tahini sauce, but also tried my hand at making one of the hot sauces. I ordered the whole red chiles from Amazon. Faith and I loved the hot sauce but Jacob thought it wasn't quite spreadable enough.  For the salad, I had dried cranberries and sliced almonds on hand and kale was fresh from the garden!

 Some things I did this time were:

• For the kebabs, I only used ground beef since ground lamb is pretty expensive. However, I think it was missing the other meat in contrast of flavor. 
• I used the soda water like prescribed, but am not really sure if it altered the texture that much. 
• After typing out this recipe, I realized I didn't knead the mixture as much as it called for.
• I feel like I overcooked the kebab, mainly from the texture being so wet and wanting to make sure everything stuck together. The meat was almost falling off of the kebab sticks as I was placing them on the grill. I probably would try to use less soda water next time or maybe add some breadcrumbs. 
• I didn't change anything with the salad and thought it was super fresh and simple to make. 
• I only made half a recipe for the hot sauce because I wasn't sure about how it was going to be. 

Grilled Lamb and Beef Kebabs

Serves: 6 to 8

Time: 20 minutes prep

           At least 30 minutes chill

          10 minutes cook

Ingredients:

      1 pound ground beef, preferably 80% lean

      1 pound ground lamb

      2 garlic cloves, finely minced or grated

      1/3 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro

      1/3 cup finely chopped fresh parsley

      1/4 cup finely chopped fresh mint

     2 teaspoons store-bought or homemade baharat

     1 teaspoon ground cumin

     1 teaspoon sweet paprika

     2 teaspoons kosher salt

     1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

     1/4 cup soda water (or cold tap water)

     Tahini, hareef, pita, for serving

     Grilled tomatoes, for serving

Steps:

1. Put the beef and lamb in a large bowl. Add the grated onion (and any juices), garlic, cilantro, parsley, mint, baharat, cumin, paprika, salt, pepper, and soda water, and knead everything thoroughly until the mixture is soft, homogeneous, and turns a shade lighter (which means the fat in the meat has melted from the heat of your hands and is incorporated into the mixture).
2. Transfer the bowl to the fridge for at least 30 minutes to make the meat mixture more stable (you can do this up to 1 day ahead). 
3. Remove from the fridge and knead to make the mixture super well blended and homogeneous; unlike with an Italian meatball, you want the cooked kebab to be firm and springy. 
4. Shape 5-inch-long and 1-inch-wide kebabs on metal skewers, or make round patties, about 2 1/2 inches in diameter. 
5. Make sure the grill is very clean and heat it to high. Grease the grill grates lightly with oil. 
6. Place as many skewers or patties as your grill allows without crowding them (work in batches). Grill the kebabs for 4 minutes, flip, and grill for 4 minutes on the other side until the meat is cooked throughout. 
7. Serve at once with some tahini, hareef of your choice, pita, and grilled tomatoes, if you've made some. 

Quinoa Tabbouleh with Kale and Dried Cranberries

Serves: 4

Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

     1 cup quinoa

     3 cups chopped baby kale or shredded Tuscan kale leaves

     1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

     1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more as needed

     3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

     1/2 cup chopped cilantro

     1/3 cup sweetened dried cranberries, roughly chopped

     1/2 cup sliced almonds toasted or fried (see below note)

     Freshly ground black pepper

Steps:

1. Fill a large saucepan with about 3 quarts water and bring to a boil over high heat. Add the quinoa, give it a stir, and cook, uncovered, until the grains are tender but not mushy, about 12 minutes. Drain and rinse under cold water to stop the cooking. Drain thoroughly, transfer to a large bowl, and let cool completely. 
2. Put the kale in a large bowl, add the lemon juice and salt, toss, and massage briefly with your fingertips - this will slightly break down the fibers of the kale and make its texture less chewy. Let the kale sit for a few minutes before serving to blend the flavors and soften the kale a bit. 
3. Add the quinoa, oil, cilantro, cranberries, almonds (reserve a few for decoration), and several twists of pepper and toss to combine. Taste and adjust the seasoning, if needed. 
4. The salad is best fresh, but will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 days. 

Note: The most common method of crisping nuts and seeds it toasting them in a  hot, dry skillet. The problem with this is that you need to watch them closely, and even when you do, the exterior tends to brown and before the interior gets crispy. The following methods is east and effective and turns out evenly golden, crisp nuts or seeds. It works for pine nuts, hazelnuts, pumpkin sees, and sunflower seed, as well as halved or slivered almonds. 

    Line a plate with paper towels. Pour a thin layer of olive oil into a small skillet and heat over medium heat for a minute. Add a handful of nuts or sees and fry, shaking the skillet and stirring the nuts or seeds, for a minute or two, until they start turning golden and smelling tasty. Immediately remove from the heat. Strain the oil (it can be reused for the next batch of nuts) and spread the nuts on the paper towels. You'll notice that their color turns a shade deeper from the residual heat, and the texture crisps up as they cool. Use promptly or store in a airtight container for up to a week. 

Classic Green S'chug

Makes about 1 1/2 cups

Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

      15 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped

      4 dried red chiles, such as chiles de arbol

      3 jalapeno chiles, cored, seeded, and coarsely chopped

      1 teaspoon kosher salt

      1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

      1/4 teaspoon ground cardamon

      3/4 cup vegetable oil or extra-virgin olive oil

      2 cups packed fresh cilantro leaves

Steps:

1. Put the garlic, dried chiles, jalapenos, salt, cumin, cardamom, and oil in a food processor and process to a homogeneous but slightly chunky paste. Add the cilantro and pulse a few times until it's chopped and combined with the rest of the ingredients, but don't over process; you want to retain some texture. 
2. Store in a glass container with a tight-fitting lid in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. 

EAT