Kebabs deliver big flavour on busy nights
The ready-to-cook kebabs you find at the supermarket are designed to draw a shopper’s eye with their colourful chunks of vegetables and proteins, but experienced cooks know that when same-ingredient items populate each skewer, there’s a better chance they’ll cook evenly.
That principle applies to this recipe as it follows pretty closely to the playbook of shaping the portions of spiced, oniony ground meat on a stick, also known as koftas.
Ground turkey fills in for the typical ground lamb; in testing with light and dark meat, we found the latter had a slight edge in flavour and juiciness.
Speaking of juicy, the addition of grated squash adds moisture and helps bind the meat mixture together.
And you can drizzle your cooked kebabs with tahini sauce, which takes no more than a minute or two to assemble.
When you grill the kebabs outdoors and have room on the grate, cut up the rest of your zucchini or yellow squash as well as single-skewer amounts of any or all of the following: bell peppers, mushrooms, red onion, eggplant, par-cooked potato.
Be sure to generously season the lot and drizzle them with olive oil.
Or simply thread on some small tomatoes with sprigs of fresh rosemary between them.
The vegetables can either round out this tasty kebab meal or they’ll be at the ready for your next-day lunch or dinner.
Serves: 3-4
■ 1/2 medium onion
■ 1/2 medium zucchini or yellow squash
■ Leaves from 8 to 10 stems fresh parsley
■ 1 lb (454 g) ground turkey, preferably dark meat (may substitute ground lamb, grass-fed beef or chicken)
■ 2 tsp (10 ml) za’atar (Middle Eastern spice blend; may substitute equal parts chopped fresh thyme, toasted sesame seeds, ground sumac and salt)
■ 1 tsp (5 ml) kosher salt
■ 1/2 tsp (2.5 ml) ground cumin
■ 1/2 tsp (2.5 ml) ground cardamom
■ 1 tbsp (15 ml) extra-virgin olive oil, plus more as needed
■ 1/2 cup (125 ml) plain yogurt (not Greek-style, can be low-fat)
■ 3 tbsp (45 ml) well-stirred
■ tahini, or more as needed
■ 1/4 tsp (1 ml) ground cayenne pepper
■ 1/2 lemon
■ Pitas, for serving
1. Combine the following in a mixing bowl as you work: Cut the half onion into small dice (about 1/2 cup/125 ml).
2. Use the large-holed side of a box grater to grate the zucchini or squash (to yield no more than 1/2 packed cup/125 ml). Chop enough parsley leaves to yield about 5 tbsp (75 ml).
3. Prepare a grill for direct heat; preheat the grill to medium-high heat (375 F/190 C), or set a large grill pan over medium-high heat on the stove top.
4. Add the ground turkey, 1 tsp (5 ml) of the za’atar, 1/2 tsp (2.5 ml) of the salt, 1/4 tsp (1 ml) of the ground cumin and all the cardamom to the mixing bowl. Use your clean hands to gently mix it all together until evenly blended.
5. Dampen your hands with water, then use them to divide the mixture into 8 equal portions, shaping each one to form a 2 1/2- to 3-inch (6- to 7.5-cm) oblong kebab.
6. Thread two onto each skewer, spacing the kebabs about an inch (2.5 cm) apart and pressing to secure them in place.
7. Grease each kebab with a little cooking oil spray or olive oil, then sprinkle with the remaining tsp (5 ml) of za’atar.
8. Grill for 10-12 minutes, turning them a few times for even browning/grill marks, or until the interior temperature registers 165 F (74 C) on an instantread thermometer.
9. Meanwhile, make the tahini sauce: Whisk together the yogurt, tahini, the tbsp (15 ml) of oil, the remaining 1/2 tsp
(2.5 ml) of salt, the remaining 1/4 tsp (1 ml) of ground cumin and the cayenne pepper.
10. Squeeze in most of the juice from the half lemon, stirring to blend it in. Taste, and add more tahini and/or lemon juice, as needed.
11. Serve warm, with the pitas and the tahini sauce for dipping.