BBQ Spice Rubbed Lamb Skewers with Roast Garlic Hummus & Fattoush Salad

Serves 4

This is a great BBQ combination. Everything works well together and the toasted bread in the fattoush salad is a very effective way to get my kids to enjoy a healthy salad. 

I've experimented with various ways to make Hummus. It's dead easy and the below recipe will leave you with enough for other meals. It will last for a week in the fridge. Usually Hummus is made with raw garlic. I make mine with roasted garlic which imparts a subtle nutty sweetness to the paste and doesn't leave you with garlic breath.

Ingredients

1kg lamb fillet cut into 2 cm cubes
1 tspn. each of cumin seeds, fennel seeds and coriander seeds
1/2 tspn. sea salt
1 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

For Hummus
1 whole head of garlic
2 x 400gm tins of chick peas (rinsed thoroughly and drained)
1/2 cup tahini
3/4 cup water
Juice of 1 lemon
1 tspn. sea salt
Extra virgin olive oil for drizzling 
A pinch of smokey paprika or cumin for topping

For Fattoush Salad
100gm Turkish or Afghani bread torn roughly into 2cm - 3cm pieces
1 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil (for bread)
Leaves from 1 bunch continental parsley
Leaves from 1 bunch mint
Leaves from 1 bunch coriander
1/2 a small red onion thinly sliced
1 spring onion thinly sliced
1 avocado diced
2 Lebanese cucumbers diced
3 medium sized ripe tomatoes diced
For dressing
4 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp. red wine vinegar
Juice of 1/2 a lemon
A pinch of Sumac 
Salt and pepper to season

Method

Pre-heat your oven to 180C.

Take the seeds and gently roast them in a dry non-stick frying pan over a low heat. Roast for 4-5 minutes until they become aromatic, being careful they do not burn. Remove from the heat and grind to powder with a mortar & pestle. Place lamb in a mixing bowl and mix the ground spices, lamb, oil and salt thoroughly. Rubbing the mix together so it covers the lamb completely. Place the lamb in the refrigerator for at least two hours for the flavours to take hold. After the meat has marinated, remove from refrigerator and place onto metal skewers. Allow the meat to rest to room temperature before cooking on an open BBQ grill. I cook on a high heat for approximately three minutes either side to medium rare. However this timing will vary dependent upon your BBQ so you may need to experiment with one of the skewers (and taste test of course!).

Whilst the lamb is marinating, peal the outer layers of skin away from the garlic head and place in a small ovenproof dish into the oven. Bake for 45 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.

Reduce the oven temperature to 150C.

Place the torn bread pieces into a mixing bowl and mix thoroughly with the 1 tbsn. of oil as well as a pinch of sea salt and pepper. Spread the bread evenly on a large baking tray, resting on a sheet of baking paper. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes then remove and allow to cool.

For the hummus

Into a food processor, place the chickpeas, tahini, lemon juice and salt. Squeeze out the individual roasted garlic cloves into the mixture. Process the ingredients and gradually pour in the water. Adjust the smoothness of the paste by adding a little more water if required. Pour half the mix into a serving bowl and refrigerate the other half to be used another time. Just before serving, drizzle with a little extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle with some paprika or cumin powder.

For the Salad

Mix all ingredients (except bread, avocado & the dressing) together in a large salad bowl. You can do this in advance until ready to serve once your lamb is cooked. Whisk the dressing ingredients together thoroughly in a small mixing bowl. Add the bread, avocado and dressing at the very last minute and toss the salad once again. To serve, sprinkle with a little sumac.