Somewhere recently I saw a mention of lamb meatballs and it’s been haunting me ever since. I definitely had to do something to get it off my brain. So I decided to play around with the concept. Here’s what I came up with:

Greek Meatballs over Couscous with Yogurt Sauce
1 cup couscous
1 onion
parsley
1 lb ground lamb
1 garlic clove
Greek seasoning (mine comes from Penzey’s)
1/3 cup breadcrumbs
1 egg
2 tbsp heavy cream
1 cup feta cheese
4 cups spinach
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
8 oz plain yogurt
1 small cucumber
4 tbsp lemon juice

Cook 1/4 of the onion in a few tsp of olive oil. Add the couscous and some chopped parsley. Add water as instructed by couscous package and cook according to direction.
Make lamb meatballs by combining lamb with 1/2 cup chopped onion, egg, cream, chopped garlic clove, Greek seasoning, salt and pepper, 1/2 cup feta, and breadcrumbs. Mix and form meatballs.
Place meatballs on greased baking sheet and add cherry tomatoes and bake at 350 for 20 minutes.
Wilt spinach in a pan with a small amount of olive oil, seasoning with salt and pepper.
Mix yogurt with remaining onion, remaining feta, lemon juice, Greek seasoning, salt and pepper and small cucumber which has been peeled and chopped.

Serve by placing couscous on the bottom and topping with meatballs, spinach and tomatoes and yogurt sauce on top.

This was SO good. A wonderfulm lighter alternative to regular spaghetti and meatballs and easier to eat than souvlaki pitas. I loved it. The meatballs are tender and flavorful and the yogurt sauce is creamy and delicious. Absolutely fantastic. And my kids love Greek food so it was a hit all around.

Somewhere recently I saw a mention of lamb meatballs and it’s been haunting me ever since. I definitely had to do something to get it off my brain. So I decided to play around with the concept. Here’s what I came up with: Greek Meatballs over Couscous with Yogurt Sauce 1 cup couscous 1 onion … Read more →

Yesterday we spent the day taking down the decorations, which is an all day job. I needed something easy for dinner, but I’m so very tired of eating bad food that I wanted something tasty and definitely did not want takeout. I decided to go with Martha’s Chicken with Israeli Couscous from page 118 of January Living.

First confession – I didn’t have Israeli couscous, so I used regular. It’s next to impossible to find Israeli couscous in this neck of the woods, although I do like it. Second confession, I used leftover chicken. I brought some chicken home from a holiday dinner the other night. I simply deconstructed it (it was wrapped in filo with cream cheese, spinach and a little crab) and added it to this recipe at the end to get it warm.

Since I cheated and used regular couscous and pre-cooked chicken, this dish came together in a flash. All I did was simmer some tomatoes with garlic, onion, lemon juice, chicken stock, and white wine until it was coming together. Third confession – I don’t have any saffron, so I had to skip adding that. Then I dumped in the couscous and waited for that to set up. At the end, I added the chicken breasts and peas. Very simple.

I thought it tasted great. I’m a big fan of couscous and I loved the tomatoey sauce this made with it. I would definitely make this dish again.

Yesterday we spent the day taking down the decorations, which is an all day job. I needed something easy for dinner, but I’m so very tired of eating bad food that I wanted something tasty and definitely did not want takeout. I decided to go with Martha’s Chicken with Israeli Couscous from page 118 of … Read more →