Kefta Kebab

Beef - it's what's for dinner! We've all heard that phrase a million times, but what to do, what to do. There are a million ground beef recipes on the net, but for some reason they all seem like a rehashing of hamburgers to me. I love lean ground beef because it's delicious and full of protein to give me energy! Kefta kebab is definitely a weekly meal here.

If you don't like onions or peppers, try it without. I've also experimented with adding in some chopped parsley with delicious results. Celery also substitutes very well for onion in this recipe (I've done the celery thing when I didn't have any onions and it worked out well; use about 2 stalks finely chopped instead of onions.)

What you need:
1 lb. lean ground beef (93/7)
1/2 sweet onion
1 red pepper (can use green or just completely nix this)
1 Tbsp. minced garlic
2 Tbsp. basil
1 Tbsp. garlic powder
1 Tbsp. black pepper
1 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. rosemary
1 Tbsp. thyme
a pinch of safron if it's available

What to do:
Chop vegetables as fine as possible (I usually use my chopper.) In bowl (I think the one I use is 1 qt., but I'm not sure... Just use a bowl that will be big enough to add all the meat), anyway, in the bowl, mix together the chopped vegetables with seasonings until well mixed.

If your meat is bloody, drain as much of the blood out as possible. I've found that when I forget this step, it becomes way too wet and hard to stick together. Slowly begin adding meat to vegetable/seasoning mixture about 1/4 pound at a time until it is well mixed.

Coat a frying pan with cooking spray like Pam's Olive Oil cooking spray (I love this stuff!) and heat to a medium-low setting. When pan is hot, begin rolling small chunks (meatball size) of meat into sausage like shapes (or balls if that's what floats your boat) and place in pan. Cook covered for about 10-15 minutes or until cooked inside.

Usually I can't fit everything in the pan at once (maybe I need a bigger pan ;)), so it may take 2 times to get all the meat cooked. Depending on how big I roll, this makes 16-20 pieces.

Nutrition Info:
(based on a serving size of 4 pieces when I make 16, or 5 when I make 20)
Calories: 250
Fat: 7.3g
Saturated Fat: 2.8g
Cholesterol: 101mg
Sodium: 659mg
Carbs: 5.2g
Fiber: 1.7g
Sugars: 1.9g
Protein: 35.3g

Enjoy!
-Mimi-