Lebanese Meat Balls/loaves (Kofta) Served with Mediterranean Quinoa and Roasted Tomato

Serves 4

*Mind you, as always, I forgot to take a picture until I was eating. Trust me when I tell you that this dish is great.

-1.5 lb lean ground beef or lamb

-2 egg

-1 cup fresh bread crumbs – use GF if needed

-1 tablespoon of dried mint

-1 garlic clove, minced

-1 tablespoon lemon juice

-1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

-1/4 teaspoon ground allspice

-1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

-2 tablespoons olive oil

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Mix all the ingredients together gently in a large bowl. Do not over mix. Form into the size of a small steak- about 5 inches long and 1 inch thick. Rub olive oil on top of each.

-2 medium tomatoes, sliced in half

-2 small onions, sliced in half

-2 tablespoons of olive oil

-½ teaspoon ground cumin

-½ paprika

-½ teaspoon cinnamon

-½ teaspoon salt and pepper

-½ cup parsley finely chopped

-**sliced cucumbers optional- I did this instead of making a salad

Grease a baking sheet. Mix spices together in a bowl. Place tomato and onion on baking sheet. Drizzle olive oil on top. Sprinkle a pinch of spices on each. Add about 1 teaspoon of parley on each. Place kofta on baking sheet. Bake for about 15-20 minutes or until meat has browned and is slightly pink inside and onions are golden. 

Mediterranean Quinoa

-1 cup of quinoa or couscous

-1 cup of chicken broth

-1 cup of water

-1/4 teaspoon cumin and salt

-1/2 cup of dried apricots, roughly chopped

-1/2 cup pistachios (or any nut you have)

-1/4 teaspoon cinnamon and pepper

Cook quinoa according to cooking instructions. Substitute 1 cup of chicken both for the second cup of water. Add cumin and salt while quinoa is cooking in water.

Once ready, fluff with a fork. Transfer into a bowl, add the remaining ingredients and mix. 

In the picture you can see a yogurt sauce that we drizzled in the meat. I don't want to make this dish too complicated but if you would like the yogurt recipe, look below. In Lebanon we call this dish Labneh. It is very simple. You can really make any variations of it. I do not know if this is how my relatives make it but I do know that this tastes great. I added some cut cucumbers as well instead of a salad.

Labneh

-2 cups of greek yogurt 

-2 tablespoons lemon juice

-3 cloves are garlic, finely chopped

-1 tablespoon dried mint

Mix all the ingredients together. Enjoy!