Adana Kebabs

These can be made with beef or lamb mince, and are utterly delicious on the barbecue or under the grill; there is no need to add a load of olive oil either, as with many other kebab recipes, so they are pretty healthy too. 

They are really tasty and what's more, they are one of the easiest kebabs to make, don't take hours of marinating either so can be made just ahead of cooking which might appeal if you're a spontaneous cook. These should have a chilli kick, I use dried chilli flakes, but you could use fresh red chilli instead. 

I made these with my Chicken Shish Kebabs, Roasted Red Pepper Hummus, Cacik, some Turkish couscous and a big salad; a fantastic feast in the sunshine. 

The below makes x4 'main meal' kebabs, or you could make smaller ones to feed a crowd as part of a feast.

Adana Kebab

Adana Kebabs and Healthy Shish Kebabs

Here's how:

• 500g minced beef or lamb (try not to use the really reduced fat versions or the kebab will dry out a little during cooking)
• 1 white onion
• 3 garlic cloves
• Big handful parsley (leaves and stalks)
• Handful dill fronds
• 2 tsp sumac
• 2 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1.5 tbsp dried chilli flakes 
• 1 tbsp tomato puree or Harissa paste
• 1 tbsp ice cold water
• 1 lemon

Firstly if you are using wooden skewers, immerse into water as soon as possible before cooking, to prevent them from catching alight on the barbecue or under the grill. You can pick up the metal kind for just a couple of quid during the summer months, and ours get plenty of use so they are a good investment if you like a lot of barbecues. 

Into a big mixing bowl throw the minced beef or lamb. Now finely dice the onion as small as you can, and peel and mince the garlic and add all of this to the mixing bowl. 

Now roughly chop the parsley and dill and add to the mixing bowl. Add the 1 tbsp of icy cold water at this point too.

Add the cumin, sumac, salt, pepper, chilli flakes and tomato puree and roughly begin to mix with a spoon or a fork. 

Now you need to work the meat a little with your hands, to also combine it, but also to tenderise it. So get your hands stuck in and work it a little, as if you would with a dough, pushing together, and ensuring all of the meat has a good array of the seasoning. Now wash your hands, cover the bowl with cling film and pop into the fridge for 30 minutes to an hour before cooking. 

When you are ready to cook the kebabs, separate into mounds of however many kebabs you are making. Then take each mound individually and work it again, and roll it into a kind of sausage shape. Really squeeze it into a tight sausage and then thread it onto one of your skewers. Once on the skewer again squeeze it tight to the skewer and set on a plate or board until ready to cook. Repeat the process until each Adana Kebab is ready. 

Now place onto a hot barbecue or under a hot grill and cook for 6-8 minutes on one side, before turning and repeating on the other side. Check the meat is cooked through, by cutting into one of them in the centre. Try not to overcook as this will dry out the meat. Once cooked and dished up onto a serving platter, finish off the kebabs with a quick squeeze of lemon juice. Enjoy!

Roasted Red Pepper Hummus and Cacik Dips

If you love Turkish food, you'd be surprised to know just how simple it is to create some of your favourite dishes at home.

I've already shared the Lamb Shish Kebab, Beef Kofte Kebabs and Healthy Chicken Shish Kebabs but what about the delicious dips to go alongside? So here are two of our favourite dips that would be fantastic with some fresh bread and any of those dishes; Roasted Red Pepper Hummus and Cacik.

Cacik is very similar to Tzatziki (although this of course originates in Greece) except rather than using mint (although in some cases mint is used), in my experience this is often flavoured with fronds of dill.

As I am on a never-ending quest to shift some weight, I often use low fat or fat free yoghurt for Cacik, but you will get a creamier version if you use full fat natural yoghurt, and if you are lucky enough to live close to any shops that stock Turkish produce, I strongly recommend finding a Turkish Yoghurt which is super thick and creamy and makes for a really authentic Cacik.

Cacik and Roasted Red Pepper Hummus

Cacik

Here's how:

• 3 tbsp yoghurt (fat free if you want a lower calorie version, Turkish or Greek full fat if you want the authentic version and to tell with the calories)
• 1 cucumber
• 1 clove of garlic
• Pinch of salt
• Handful of dill fronds, finely chopped

In a small bowl add the yoghurt and salt. 

Grate the cucumber down and add to the yoghurt. 

Peel and mince the garlic and add to the yoghurt. 

Finely chop the dill fronds and add to the yoghurt then give it all a good mix and spoon into your serving dish; or cover and place into the fridge until you need. 

Roasted Red Pepper Hummus

There are tons of varieties of hummus out there, but this is our favourite, taking flavour from those delightful jarred roasted red peppers. If you don't have any and/or can't get hold of them, you can simply place a whole red pepper into the oven at a very high heat and roast until charred all over. Then remove from the oven, allow to cool, and peel off the charred skin and remove the lid, and the seeds inside. 

Here's how:

• 1 large roasted red pepper
• 1 tin of chickpeas
• 2 tbsp tahini 
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 1 clove of garlic
• Pinch of salt and black pepper
• Olive oil

For this you will need a food processor or if you have one, a Nutribullet. 

Firstly drain off the tin of chickpeas and add 90% of the tin to the Nutribullet or blender (save a few for garnish). Add the tahini and squeeze in the juice of the lemon.

Now peel and mince the garlic and add with the salt and pepper and the roasted red pepper. 

Pour in a couple of tablespoons of olive oil. Now put the blender lid on and blitz. You will most likely need more like 4-5 tablespoons of olive oil to get a smoother, runnier consistency, but if you add a little at a time, and just blend until you are happy with the consistency.

Once ready, place into the fridge for later with a lid on or dish up into you serving dish and scatter over the remaining chickpeas. If you are making ahead of time, and you find the hummus has gone a little dry in the fridge, just add a few drops more olive oil and mix again with a fork or spoon or give another quick blitz.

Lamb Shish Kebab

These lamb shish kebabs, are a real tasty fakeaway treat for all of the family - much needed at the moment while we're all self-isolating. We had this last night with some Healthy Chicken Shish Kebabs, Turkish giant couscous, flatbreads, Cacik and Hummus and a lovely feta salad and we got the Turkish music blaring on YouTube and even opened some Efes to make us feel like we might be at a restaurant.

You can play around with the spicing to your personal taste. and the longer you marinate the meat for, the better, more flavourful and more tender it will be. 

The below cooks them to 'medium rare' with just a blushing pink in the centre; if you prefer your lamb cooked right through, just cook for longer. 

I cooked this under our grill last night - but you could of course cook on a barbecue too; although it's a bit trickier to get the timing right on coals or gas. 

I have included below for a 'vegetable skewer' which is just a lovely accompaniment to have charred onion and red pepper with your kebabs, but you could alternatively thread the lamb kebabs with the onion and pepper too or omit if you're not keen.

Lamb Shish Kebab

Here's how:

• 500g lamb leg 
• 3 tbsp natural yoghurt
• Juice and body of 1 lemon
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• Pinch of salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1 tbsp paprika
• 1 tsp cayenne pepper
• 2 tsp cumin
• 2 tsp cinnamon 
• 1 tsp allspice
• 1 tsp dried chilli flakes
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 tbsp Harissa paste (you can substitute for tomato puree if you don't have harissa)

For the vegetable skewer:

• 1 red pepper
• 1 large white onion

For post-cooking:

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• Juice of 1/2 lemon

A few hours before you wish to cook the kebabs, or even better, the night before; chop the lamb into small 2cm cubes, and place into a plastic container big enough to contain the meat and the marinade.

Now add the natural yoghurt, olive oil, harissa paste and all of the spices. 

Meanwhile roughly chop the garlic, and throw into the mix, and half the lemon and squeeze out the juice directly into the container, then throw in the remaining lemon halves.

Now use a spoon and mix thoroughly to ensure every piece of lamb is immersed in the marinade. 

When ready to cook, thread each piece of meat onto one of your skewers, and pack the meat on fairly tightly. 

For the vegetable skewer, cut the red pepper into 2 cm square-ish shaped and sized pieces and the same for the onion, and thread onto another skewer. 

Now place all of the skewers under a hot grill, for four minutes, then carefully turn over and cook for a further four minutes, which should make for medium rare lamb. 

In the meantime, pour into a small bowl or ramekin the 1 tbsp olive oil, and squeeze in the lemon juice. (You could also add a crushed garlic clove or some freshly chopped parsley if you wish.)

Remove from the grill, and place onto a plate to rest for four minutes whilst you assemble the rest of your dish. 

When you place onto a platter or onto individual plates, then use the olive oil and lemon mixture and a pastry brush and simply brush each kebab with the oil. Enjoy!

If you love a kebab you may also like the recipes for some of the below:

Healthy Chicken Shish Kebabs

Greek-style Chicken Souvlaki

Pork Souvlaki

Beef Kofte Kebabs

Tzatziki 

Healthy Chicken Shish Kebabs

I'm as guilty as anyone else of loving my takeaways, and I always think if we have a Turkish takeaway it's healthier than most - although probably not when we have the chips to go with it all! I've been having a go for the last couple of months at different versions of a homemade chicken shish kebab, and this is where we've landed with it. Our very own fake-away!

I always serve it as a platter for the family, as it's just fun; it looks great to look at, and we all love digging in and sharing off of the same platter. I do have to do some plainer chicken, not for the baby, who will literally devour the chicken on these kebabs, but for Bridget who says these are too spicy! They are very mild, but that is toddlers for you! Luckily she does eat everything else on the platter! 

The recipe here is just for the chicken shish, but I serve with toasted pitta, a tomato, red onion and cucumber salad (literally as simple as that with a drizzle of olive oil and sprinkling of black pepper), tzatziki, and either white rice, or couscous, or in this case, both! I'm obviously watching my calorie and carb intake, so couscous is a good option, but Bridget and Beatrice love their white rice, and Glen prefers it over couscous too! For my couscous, I use a basic one, and add parsley, mint, dill and chives plus some chopped up dried apricots - it's delicious with the chicken shish.

The below makes 5 healthy sized skewers and the trick is to marinate the chicken for as long as possible, if you can do overnight for the following evening meal, the chicken will be so flavourful and tender, it's well worth the wait. 

One final note - this is by no means an authentic Turkish recipe, it is in fact, an amalgamation of me trying tons of recipes and experimenting, and this is simply the one we've settled on as our favourite. 

Healthy Chicken Shish Kebabs

Here's how:

• 3 large chicken breasts
• 5 tbsp natural yoghurt
• 1 large lemon
• 2 tbsp tomato puree
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp paprika
• 2 tsp cumin
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 2 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp garlic salt
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 2 tsp oregano
• 1 red onion
• 4 cloves garlic

Firstly open up the container you're using to marinate the meat, this can be a plastic container, a zip up bag, or you can use a large yoghurt container, as I have - I save these for such occasions! 

Pour in the olive oil, yoghurt and tomato puree. 

Now you need to grate the onion, and throw in the result, including the juicy pulp, into the marinade. 

Mince the garlic and add to the mix. Slice the lemon in half and then squeeze out as much of the juice as you can then throw the lemon halves into the marinade. 

Finally add all of the herbs and spices and give a really good stir. 

Now dice the chicken into decent sized chunks, this doesn't have to be exact, but try to get similarly sized pieces where possible. Throw all of the chicken into the marinade, and use a spoon to mix so all of the chicken is fully immersed in the yoghurt mix, then pop the lid on and place back into the fridge. 

Chicken Shish Marinade

Try to leave to marinade for at least four hours, but overnight is better. 

If using wooden skewers, soak these for an hour or so in water before cooking. 

To cook, simply load the marinated chicken pieces onto the skewer, pack them pretty tight together, and leave a good gap at either end of the skewers, and place under the grill for about five minutes, then turn and cook for a further five minutes. If you like a more charred chicken shish, increase the cooking time slightly. Before serving, just use a sharp knife and make an incision into one of the biggest pieces of chicken into the centre, to ensure the chicken is cooked through. If so, turn off the grill, and leave the chicken to rest for a few minutes, before serving.

Serve with your choice of accompaniments: pitta, rice, couscous, tzatziki, hummus, salad, chilli sauce, feta, halloumi - all will work a treat! If cooking for the family, do try and serve on a board to add a bit of theatre and fun to your evening meal, pile it high and let everyone dig in! Enjoy!