Summer-TIME

My favorite thing about summer this year?  Time. 

Sunlight for a solid 15 hours a day.

No sports or camps to rush off to.  No homework to get done. 

This year more than ever before, I'm appreciating summer-TIME!

I decided I was getting a little bored of grilling the same old things for dinner.  I mean how many ways can you grill chicken and burgers before they all taste the same.  I stumbled across a recipe for Kofta (traditionally using ground lamb) and decided to switch it up a bit with turkey because a) it's cheaper and b) it was already in my freezer.  I can make my kids eat anything resembling a burger or a meatball if I throw a little red sauce on top, so I knew this would be golden.

This is not the quickest recipe in the world, but if you have a little bit of TIME this summer it's a good one to experiment with new flavors!

Grilled Turkey Kofta Kebobs and Tzatziki Pitas

For the Kofta:

1 pound Ground Turkey

Fresh Parsley (or dried will do)

garlic - 3 cloves

Coriander, Cumin, Cinnamon, Cayenne, Allspice, Ginger, Salt and Pepper

Ok so I tried to be fancy with the garlic using a trick my real chef friend Melissa told me about.  To make the garlic into a paste, just smash the garlic cloves and take the skin off, then sprinkle with salt and let them sweat for a few minutes.  Do that first... then chop other stuff

Ground turkey in a bowl, then grate half an onion over top.  Onion flakes will suffice as well, but I like grated onion

Chopped parsley, I grabbed a handful, but for my measuring friends (hi andrea) recipe says 3 tablespoons

Okay this part gets redundant with the pics so here you go... you need

1 TABLESPOON Coriander

1 TEASPOON Cumin

1/2 TABLESPOON Cinnamon

1/2 TEASPOON Allspice

1/4 TEASPOON Cayenne and Ginger

Salt and Pepper

So the garlic was supposed to get pastey when I used the backside of my knife to scrape at it but alas, I am not a real chef like Melissa.  So I just chopped it and threw it in.

Mix it all together... with your hands!  Spoons are for wimps, and you really have to work the spices in anyway.

Spray a piece of aluminum foil lightly with oil

Form the meat into patties and place on skewers.

Refrigerate.  Please note my stocked refrigerator full of summer necessities (beer, milk, cranberry juice)

That should refrigerate for at least 30 minutes so it isn't goo when you try to grill it. Quick tzatziki recipe changes everytime I make it so don't stress following exact measurements.  This one was

2 cups plain yogurt

1/2 tablespoon Dill (dried)

half a lemon squeezed

1 tsp garlic powder

1 cucumber (thanks Tawnya for the cuc!) peeled and diced small

cherry tomatoes quartered

salt and pep to taste

So a few things happened between prep and cooking.  One being - I went outside to "play" with my neighbors ... aka Happy Hour.  The dog I'm watching ate all the pita bread while I was gone.  Thankfully he also cleaned up after the kids and ate all their mess off the ground after dinner so I still love him a lot.

Also thankfully I am a carb addict so I had Naan in the freezer to substitute.

Also my grill maste didn't make it home from work and that is a skill I refuse to learn, so I just baked these puppies at 350 for 25 minutes, then flipped the skewers and broiled for like 2 minutes.

I ate mine like that, but I put a little pasta sauce on the kofta with some leftover pasta for pickier eaters and it was a hit. 

Did you even know you could eat Tzatziki with your hands?  Girl after my own heart...

Recipe:

 3 cloves garlic

1 pound ground turkey

 half a grated onion

3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

1 tablespoon ground coriander

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 tablespoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground allspice

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

 skewers

Chop garlic well or form into a paste.  Mix the garlic into the turkey along with the onion, parsley, coriander, cumin, cinnamon, allspice, cayenne pepper, ginger, and salt and pepper in a mixing bowl USING YOUR HANDS :)

Spray a sheet of aluminum foil with cooking spray. Form the mixture into 2 inch balls. Form each ball around the tip of a skewer, flattening into a 2 inch oval; repeat. Place the kebabs onto a baking sheet, cover, and refrigerate at least 30 minutes.

GRILL - about 6 minutes per side (spray the grill with oil first to avoid sticking.  I might even grill the first side ON the aluminum foil because I'd be scared they would fall off.  But I'm not grill master)

or BAKE at 350 for 25 minutes, then flip and Broil 2 minutes.

Serve over flatbread or pitas with tzatziki sauce and fresh spinach.