Beef Kefta & Tabouli Salad

Mediterranean style food has been one of our favorite to dine as the diet is normally composed of vibrant vegetables and lean grill meat. With the Chicago winter still mulling about, we find ourselves needing to break away from the cold weather food staples of heavy soups and change up the atmosphere with a healthier meal option.

Beef Kefta & Tabouli Salad is one of our staple recipes that we've gone back to, time and time again. It's neither complicated nor does it take a lot of time to prep. Originally, Kefta, also known as Moroccan meatball, is often appreciated using ground Lamb and ground Beef combo. I personally am not fond of Lamb so we have opted for the Beef version which still tastes wonderful.

​To complement the protein and make this a complete meal, we suggest Tabouli salad which is a chopped parsley salad that goes extremely well with the kefta. The citrus dressing brightens up your palate and really brings the meal together. If you want to go a step further, you can add other salads such as tomato and red onion salad. Otherwise, a pita bread or two would suffice to meet your carb needs.

Beef Kefta & Tabouli Salad

Ingredients

 Total Time : 30 Minutes
 Course: Entree
 Serving: 2

Beef Kefta
1 lb ground beef (20% fat)
1/2 cup onions (finely chopped)
1/4 cup parsley (finely chopped)
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground za'atar 
1 tsp ground cayenne pepper
1 tsp ground spanish paprika (hot)
2 tsp ground sumac
2 tbsp water
thinly slice tomatoes (optional, decoration purposes)
​
Tabouli Salad
3 cups parsley (finely chopped)
1/3 cup tomatoes (finely chopped)
1/2 cup of lettuce (finely chopped)
2 tbsp couscous (cooked)
1/2 lemon (juiced) or to taste
1/2 tsp salt

How to make it?

Beef Kefta

1. Mix all of the beef kefta ingredients in a mixing bowl. Make sure the ingredients are evenly mixed together.

2. Take a handful of the ground meat mixture and shape it in a ball. Roll it out to cylindrical shape which helps to cook the meat evenly.

3. Grease a baking tray. Arranged the beef kefta on the baking tray. As an optional step, place the thinly sliced tomatoes on top of the kefta to decorate.

4. Bake at 360 F or 180 C  for 20 minutes.

Tabouli Salad

1. While waiting for the kefta to cook, prepare the tabouli salad ingredients.

2. Mix all of the Tabouli salad ingredients in a mixing bowl. Add more lemon juice if you prefer a sour note. 

​3. Serve with Beef Kefta.

Simple ingredients prepared in a simple way - that's the best way to take your everyday cooking to a higher level.
- Jose Andres, James Beard Award Chef