Lamb Kebob Tacos with Tahini Sauce

Middle Eastern flavors are a hot trend on the California food truck circuit, and our thick, Hand Made Style Flour tortillas make a great stand-in for traditional pita bread.

If you don’t see ground lamb at the supermarket, purchase lamb shoulder and ask the butcher to grind it for you. Not a fan of lamb? Substitute ground beef chuck. As common in the Middle East as peanut butter is here, tahini is made from ground sesame seeds (it’s a key component in hummus). You can find it in the supermarket near peanut and other nut butters. Leftover tahini sauce, thinned with a little more lemon juice, makes a tasty salad dressing. You can assemble the “tacos” as we do here, or serve the components family style and let everyone assemble their own.

Make-ahead tip: Prep the tahini sauce and assemble the kebabs up to one day ahead and refrigerate.

Prep time: 20 min | Cook time:  10 min

Ingredients

Tahini sauce:

1/4 cup tahini

1/4 cup water

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Salt and pepper to taste

Remaining ingredients:

1 pound ground lamb

1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh mint, plus additional for garnish

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon ground coriander

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 garlic cloves, minced

Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

8 cherry tomatoes

1/4 cup (1-inch) cubed red onion

Olive oil

1 package La Tortilla Factory Handmade Style Flour Tortillas

1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese

1 small Persian cucumber, thinly sliced

Lemon wedges

Directions:

Soak 8 (8-inch) bamboo skewers in water for 30 minutes. Preheat grill.

Whisk together tahini sauce ingredients in a small bowl. Mixture will appear to seize up at first — that’s OK, keep whisking until it’s smooth. Chill.

Combine lamb, mint, cumin, coriander, salt, garlic and pepper. Form into 16 oval-shaped meatballs. Thread 2 meatballs onto each skewer, alternating with tomatoes and onion. Brush with olive oil. Grill 8-10 minutes or until done, turning to cook evenly.

Warm tortillas on grill or hot griddle. Top each tortilla with one skewer. Holding the bottom meatball, gently remove skewer. Top with tahini sauce, feta, cucumber and additional chopped mint. Serve with lemon wedges.

Number of Servings: 4-8

Calories: 380  | Total fat: 22 grams | Total carbohydrates: 26 grams | Dietary fiber: 2 grams | Protein: 20 grams