Meatballs with Couscous and Feta

Scott and I have learned to love Greek inspired food. It's relatively healthy and with great flavors! These meatballs had an interesting flavor to them, and I honestly think I would try it again. The overall dish, was not quite as stellar. The lemon vinaigrette was almost overwhelming to the point of not being enjoyable anymore. Overall we'd give it a 2.5/5 for effort!

My lovely creations before going in the oven! 

The final product!

Meatballs with Couscous and Feta-adapted from RealSimple.com

Serves 4

Total Time: 25 Minutes

• 1 pound ground lamb or ground beef
• 1/4 cup dried apricots, finely chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 small red onion, half finely chopped, and half thinly sliced
• Kosher salt and pepper
• 1 cup couscous
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 2 plum tomatoes, sliced
• 1/2 english cucumber, halved and thinly sliced
• 4 ounce Feta cheese, crumbled

Heat broiler. In a medium bowl, combine beef, apricots, coriander, chopped red onion, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. 

Form the meat into 1 1/2 inch balls and place on broil proof baking sheet. Broil until cooked through, 6-8 minutes.

Meanwhile, place the couscous in a bowl. Add one cup hot water, cover, and let sit for 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork.

In a small bowl, mix together oil, lemon juice, and 1/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper.

Serve the meatballs with couscous, tomatoes, cucumber, onions, and feta. Sprinkle with dressing.

Herbed Lamb (or Pork) Kabobs

I do not have a grill and I live in an upstairs apartment, so I was kind of second guessing if I really wanted to try a 'grilled' recipe. I'm so glad I did! This marinade is absolutely delicious and I feel as though it would go well with just about anything!

I cut the recipe in half because it is for eight servings, and I live all alone. I like left-overs, but not that much! I also used olive instead of canola oil, and switched out the lamb for pork. I just don't have the money (and I couldn't find) the lamb! And after I started grilling I realized I would've really liked to have added mushrooms to the kabobs. I'm super sad I didn't and definitely will next time! I didn't end up using all of the reserved marinade, so I might cut down the spices and onion a little more, but keep the oil and juice as it got to be kind of dry.

Herbed Lamb Kabobs
Serves 8
Prep Time: 15 minutes + marinade
Grill Time: 20 minutes

• 1 cup canola oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1/2 cup lemon juice
• 1/2 cup minced fresh parsley
• 3-4 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 teaspoons dried marjoram
• 2 teaspoons dried thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 2 pounds boneless lamb
• 1 medium red onion, cut into wedges
• 1 large green pepper, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1 large sweet red pepper, cut into 1-inch pieces

In a small bowl, combine the first nine ingredients. Pour 1 cup into a large resealable plastic bag; add the lamb. Seal bag and turn to coat; refrigerate for 6-8 hours. Cover and refrigerate remaining marinade for basting.

Drain and discard marinade. On eight metal or soaked wooden skewers, alternately thread the lamb, onion and peppers. Grill, uncovered, over medium-hot heat for 8-10 minutes on each side or until meat reaches the desired doneness, basting frequently with reserved marinade.