Turkish Garlicky Yogurt Sauce Kebabs

Found a local meat market that sells ground lamb to try this new cuisine.  It had to be good since the meat is grilled and felt healthy with all the vegetables, but what pulls this together is the yogurt sauce that is lemon and garlicky. Does having vegan naan bread make it healthier?!  Lemon Pepper is a new spice for me, I think I like it and will look for more ways to  use it.

Ingredients

  • Garlicky Yogurt Sauce
    • 1 1/4 C plain Greek yogurt
    • 1 T lemon juice
    • 5 cloves garlic minced
    • 1 1/2 T  olive oil
    • 1 T lemon pepper
    • 1/2 t sea salt

Lamb

    • 2 pounds ground lamb 
    • 1 small yellow onion, peeled and grated, blotted with a paper towel to soak up excess liquid.
    • 1 large bunch flat leaf parsley, just the leaves, divided.
    • 3 tablespoons crushed black peppercorn
    • 1 tablespoon lemon pepper divided.
    • 1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt

Garnishes

  • 2 ripe tomatoes, sliced in half through the core, each half sliced thinly.
  • 1 English cucumber washed and thinly sliced.
  • 1 red onion, peeled, slivered, soaked in cold water for 10 minutes, drained.
  • Parsley leaves (about 1 ½ cups or whatever's left of the bunch)
  • 12-18 romaine lettuce leaves
  • Naan bread, sliced in half, warmed.

Directions

Make the sauce - combine all ingredients in a bowl and store in refrigerator until ready to eat, let the flavors blend.

Lamb kebabs or in my case rolls since I don't have the proper skewer.

  1. Make the Kebabs: Finely chop ¼ cup of the parsley leaves. Set the rest aside for the garnish salad.
  2. In a large bowl combine lamb, onion, chopped parsley, black peppercorn, 2 teaspoons lemon pepper, and salt. Work the ingredients together with your hands for a couple of minutes until they are fully incorporated.

  3. Divide the meat mixture into 6 or 12 equal portions. Squeeze them into long flat firm sausage shapes. 

  4. Refrigerate until ready to grill covered with plastic wrap.

  5. Arrange garnish on a platter and sprinkle onions and cucumbers with 1/2 t lemon pepper.

  6. Set grill to HIGH with a grill pan to keep the meat from falling through the grates, oil the pan when at temperature.
  7. Place the meat on the hot grill pan about 4-5 minutes per side.
  8. Place naan on grill to warm up.
  9. Serve on a platter with the sauce and garnishes, sprinkle lemon pepper over the meat and sauce for more flavor.

 

I'm pretty sure this is the lazy untraditional way to make this, but I do like the freshness of lemon pepper and garnishes.  The sauce also makes a great dipping sauce for a vegetable dip with carrots and celery.