Minced lamb and kale with couscous and minted tzaziki

It's been almost a week since I posted something! That's not due to a lack of cooking though, I've just been keeping super busy with making delicious canapés. Expect there to be quite a few recipes soon from all the leftovers!

For the mean time, I still have plenty of recipes in the backlog that are waiting to be shared here. This dish had a definite mediterranean influence, with beautiful warm flavours coming through. More importantly, this is quick to prepare and is a healthy balanced meal, too.

I used minced lamb, but you can use minced beef too, however lamb will taste even better with the addition of the fresh, zingy minted tzaziki. So without much further ado, here is my recipe.

Minced lamb and kale with couscous and minted tzaziki

Recipe by Athene Knufer

Ingredients

• 300g greek yoghurt
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 onion, finely diced
• 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
• a handful of chopped mint leaves
• 6 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• Half a cucumber, peeled, seeded and diced
• 500g minced lamb or beef
• 250g mixed kale, blanched and chopped
• 400g diced tomatoes
• 250g couscous
• 250ml vegetable or chicken stock
• pitta bread to serve

Cooking Directions

1. First, prepare the tzaziki: put the greek yoghurt in a bowl and stir in half a diced onion, 3 cloves of chopped garlic as well as the lemon juice, white wine vinegar and chopped mint leaves and season well with salt and pepper.
2. Cover the tzaziki and place in the fridge for at least 1.5-2 hours, to let the flavours steep.
3. To make the kale and minced lamb, lightly saute the other half of the diced onion for a few minutes.
4. Then add the minced lamb, add the other 3 cloves of chopped garlic and fry until brown.
5. Once well browned, add the diced tomatoes and simmer for about 15 minutes on a low heat and season well with salt and pepper.
6. Meanwhile, make the couscous by adding 250ml of chicken or vegetable to the couscous and simmer on a very low heat for 5 minutes, covered. Then take the couscous of the heat and let sit for about 10 minutes. Fluff the couscous with a fork before serving.
7. Finally, add the chopped mixed kale (i used a mixture of cavolo nero and curly kale) to the pan and cook for another few minutes and re-check the seasoning.
8. To serve, plate the minced lamb and kale with some couscous, tzaziki and warmed pitta bread. Enjoy!