My good friend Mary Rolph Lamontagne recently began blogging about her cooking and food experiences in South Africa, where she and her husband moved in 2005 (you can find her blog at http://goodfoodquest.com). Having trained at the Ritz-Escoffier culinary school in Paris, Mary is a fabulous cook and has started to create her own African-inspired dishes. A recent post for North African Lamb Kabobs with Grilled Eggplant Salad caught my attention, so on evening last week I decided to make them for dinner. Since the kabobs and the eggplant are both grilled, and it was raining outside, I decided to cook indoors using my new Le Creuset Bistro Grill Pan. My next blog will include a review of the pan (which I love!).

This dish is absolutely delicious – and fun to serve.  In the style of my cookbook, it is uncomplicated to make yet still sophisticated and scrumptious. Below is my version of Mary’s recipe (and I borrowed her photo of the final dish as my camera battery died!). Make sure to check out Mary’s original blog and recipe (links are above), in which she includes some beautiful photos along with interesting information on various types of kabobs.

Lamb Kabobs with Grilled Eggplant and Mint-Yogurt Sauce
(Serves 4)

(Photo courtesy of Mary Rolph)

Lamb Kabobs:
1 pound ground lamb
1 1/2 teaspoons chopped garlic
1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
1 tablespoon toasted pine nuts, chopped
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground paprika
1 teaspoon ground coriander
2 teaspoons chopped fresh mint
pinch red pepper flakes

Mint-Yogurt Sauce:
1 cup Greek yogurt
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1/2 cup coarsely chopped flat leaf parsley
1/4 cup coarsely chopped mint

2 eggplants, thinly sliced (around 1/4-inch) lengthwise
1 cup mixed lettuce, torn

12 wood skewers, soaked in water or wine/water mixture for an hour

Place the lamb, garlic, ginger, pine nuts, cumin, paprika, coriander, 2 teaspoons mint and red pepper flakes in a large mixing bowl. Using your hands, mix together. Cover and place in the refrigerator for 1 hour.

Place the yogurt, lemon juice, olive oil, vinegar, parsley and mint in the bowl of a food processor and process until well mixed. Let sit for at least 1/2 hour to allow flavors to blend. If refrigerated, bring to room temperature before serving.

Rub each side of the eggplant slices with olive oil and season with sea salt. Grill on a grill pan or barbeque over medium heat until cooked through and softened, turning once. Set aside.

Shape lamb mixture into 2-inch long oval sausage shapes around skewers (you should have 12 kabobs). Rub with olive oil and grill in a grill pan or on a barbeque over medium heat until cooked through, turning occasionally – around 20 minutes for medium-rare on a grill pan.

Divide eggplant slices between 4 serving plates. Top with mixed greens. Spoon yogurt sauce over the top. Place Kabobs on plate around the sauce.

Note: You will have some of the sauce leftover. The next day, I made a sandwich wrap of roasted turkey, grilled asparagus, sliced tomatoes, feta cheese and the mint-yogurt sauce and it was yummy!

Tags: eggplant, kabobs, lamb, Main Dishes, meat, mint-yogurt sauce

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