Hummus Plate and Lamb Kofta Kebabs

One of the menu items over at McMenamins that my brother always used to order was the Hummus Plate. It occurred to us that it would be pretty easy to make this exact thing at home for a lot less money, and it soon became one of my favorite easy football-watching meals. Sometimes when I forget how delicious Hummus Plate is on its own I'll also throw together a batch of Lamb Kofta Kebabs to go with the veggies and homemade pitas (pita recipe is at the bottom of the post here), but honestly it's not necessary. Hummus Plate is also one of the few vegetarian-friendly dishes in my arsenal, so it comes in handy when my non-meat-eating friends drop by.

Both the hummus and kebabs below use a mixture I call my "Cumin Spice Mix" which is made by combining 3 tablespoons cumin seeds, 1 tablespoon very coarse sea salt, and 1 - 1.5 tablespoons crushed red pepper flakes in a spice grinder or mortar and pestle. If using a finer salt, start with less than 1 tablespoon since you can always add more as needed in the recipes below. I also add a bit of this spice mix to some Greek yogurt to serve with the Kofta Kebabs in the pitas and use it pretty regularly for seasoning things like roasted potatoes or grilled summer squash.

Emily's Famous Hummus
   4 15-ounce cans chickpeas, drained (liquid from 1 can reserved)
   6 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
   2 tablespoons Cumin Spice Mix (see above)
   2 tablespoons olive oil
   2 tablespoons minced fresh garlic
   ~6 tablespoons tahini

Combine all ingredients in a food processor, using reserved chickpea liquid to adjust consistency as needed.

Serves 8.

Lamb Kofta Kebabs
   1/2 large red onion, finely chopped
   1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
   1/4 - 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
   2 tablespoons Cumin Spice Mix (see above)
   1 pound ground lamb
   2 pounds leg of lamb, trimmed of excess fat and coarsely ground in a food processor

Using your hands, mix all ingredients in a large bowl until well-combined. Make a small test patty from ~1 tablespoon of the meat mixture. Cook in a skillet and taste for seasoning (mixture as written above may need additional salt depending on your palette). When the seasoning is where you want it, shape the meat mixture onto metal skewers as below.
This takes a bit of practice. (The reason for using one part ground lamb with to the two parts lean leg of lamb is that the lean lamb on its own doesn't have enough fat to hold together well on the skewers, whereas if you use all pre-ground there is so much fat that you don't get to tell yourself you're eating something healthy...)
Preheat a gas grill and cook the skewers over relatively high heat until just done.

Serves 6.

Hummus Plate (with Optional Kofta Kebabs)
   1 batch Homemade Pita Bread
   1 batch Emily's Famous Hummus
   6 Roma tomatoes, diced
   1 English cucumber, quartered lengthwise and thinly sliced
   1 red onion, quartered lengthwise and thinly sliced, then tossed with the juice of one lemon
   Crumbled feta cheese
   Kalamata olives
   1 batch Lamb Kofta Kebabs (optional)
   2 cups Greek Yogurt mixed with ~1 tablespoon Cumin Spice Mix (optional)

Combine ingredients in whatever way sounds good to you and enjoy.

Serves 8-10.