Lamb and Pine Nut Meatballs with Moroccan Salad and Tahini Dressing

Moroccan Meatballs
Serves 3-4 small rissoles per serve
480 calories per serve

Ingredients

400g minced lamb (500g will just make a few more for leftovers)
1  onion finely grated or finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, crushed to a paste
1/2 cup (80g) pine nuts, lightly toasted and roughly chopped, or panko breadcrumbs
1 teasp. ground paprika
1/2 teasp. ground allspice
1 teasp. ground cumin
(or instead of the above spices use 1 teaspoon of ras al hanout spice blend or more if you like it spicy)
1 beaten egg
Small bunch of fresh parsley, finely chopped
Small bunch of fresh mint, finely chopped
2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil or vegetable oil
Sea Salt and freshly ground pepper

For the Salad: (2-4 serves)

100g spinach leaves
1 tbsp. sliced almonds
1/2 cucumber, peeled, seeded and cut into chunks
2 tbsp. chickpeas, drained and rinsed
2 spring onions, chopped
1 tsp. olive oil
1 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
Juice of half a lemon

Tahini dressing: (4 serves)

1/4 cup (70g) good quality tahini
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice (definitely not the bottled stuff)
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 cup (60ml) warm water

Method:

1. In a large bowl, mix together the minced lamb, onion, garlic, pine nuts, paprika, allspice and cumin. Add the egg white and mix again.
2. Stir in the chopped herbs and season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Shape the mixture into 6 evenly sized balls.
3. Heat the oil in a frying pan and fry the meatballs over a medium heat, turning occasionally, for 10 minutes, until golden brown on all sides and completely cooked through.

Moroccan Salad:

Place the spinach leaves in a bowl. Add all the other ingredients and toss together. Serve with the meatballs and dream that you are in Morocco.

Tahini Dressing Method:

1. Add tahini, lemon juice, cumin, sea salt flakes and freshly ground pepper to taste in a small ethnic style bowl and stir to combine.
2. Slowly add the warm water until your dressing reaches a creamy consistency, and it will become nice and creamy. I didn't need all of the water but it depends on how thick the tahini is.
3. Please note:  If you use a good quality tahini from a Middle Eastern shop or deli, the liquid won't have separated from the tahini paste. Unfortunately some of the tahini brands I have tried from the supermarkets have separated and aren't easily mixed back together making the dressing very gluggy.

To serve:

Serve the meatballs with the Moroccan Salad or an Eggplant Salad and the Tahini Dressing. Serve it on small pita breads if you wish.