Lamb kofta salad with courgette tzatziki & crispy chickpeas

A fresh, filling Greek-style fakeaway

This is the kind of dinner we end up eating the most, sometimes swapping the lamb kofta for chicken thighs or using halloumi or paneer instead of feta, and making the salad elements out of whatever’s in season or close to wilting in the fridge. No matter the weather or day of the week, we pretty much always fancy a bit of nicely spiced protein, fresh veggies, something saucy and something crunchy. If your go-to Deliveroo order is a shwarma box for the bit of this, bit of that, not-too-unhealthy nature of it, firstly you’re kidding yourself and secondly, this is better. A supped-up salad bowl like this, ticks all the boxes. And it’s quick to make, while still feeling like you ‘made’ something. To really enjoy the fuss-free-ness of my lamb kofta salad bowl, I recommend being organised. Make the koftas in the afternoon if you can, and pop them all rolled up and ready to cook in the fridge until you’re ready - they’ll hold their structure better and the flavours of the spices will develop more too. You can also make the tzatziki ahead, and the bulgur wheat or cous cous, which is best served cooler anyway. Wash and slice all your salad bits and have those laid out ahead of the final assembly, and roast the chickpeas while the koftas cook.

Serves 2

For the koftas

• 300g lamb mince

• 1/2 tsp minced garlic (or 2 garlic cloves grated)

• 50g breadcrumbs

• 1 tsp lemon juice

• 1 tsp cumin powder

• 1 tsp mixed herbs

• 1 tsp coriander powder

• 1/2 tsp paprika

• 1/2 tsp cinnamon

• 1/2 tsp salt

• 1/2 tsp black pepper

• Olive oil

For the salad/grains

• 2 big handfuls of iceberg lettuce, shredded

• 1/4 cucumber, sliced

• 10 cherry tomatoes, quartered

• 10 kalamata olive, halved

• 1/2 red onion, chopped

• 250g cooked bulgur wheat or cous cous, cooled

For the tzatziki

• 3 baby courgettes or 1/2 a normal courgette

• 4-5 heaped tbsp Greek yoghurt

• 1 tsp lemon juice

• 1/4 tsp salt

• 1/4 tsp black pepper

• 1/4 tsp mixed herbs

For the crunchy chickpeas

• 1 can of chickpeas (better quality does make a difference here)

• 1 tsp salt

• 1/2 tsp black pepper

• 1 tsp paprika

• Olive oil

Optional extras

• 100g feta

• Hummus (you can make it if you want but I buy it)

• Hot sauce

• Fresh herbs such as parsley and chives

Preheat the oven to 220C. Spread the chickpeas out on a few sheets of kitchen roll, doubled up if it’s thin and pat them dry with more kitchen roll. Using a fresh piece of kitchen roll, gently roll the chickpeas to encourage any loose shells to separate. Then you’re going to need to get involved and pick the shells off of any still-clothed chickpeas. It’s a fiddly, laborious task but so so worth it, your chickpeas will taste better and be crunchier for it. Now your chickpeas are de-robed and dry, scatter them across a foil-lined baking tray and sprinkle with salt, pepper and paprika and drizzle with oil. Bake for 20-30 minutes until crispy, then pop in a bowl and sprinkle with a little more salt.

In a large bowl, use your hands to mix the lamb kofta ingredients until fully combined. The mixture will be a little dry but shouldn’t be crumbly. Divide the mixture into eight and lightly squeeze into conical balls. Put the koftas back into the bowl and drizzle with olive oil, then transfer to a preheated air fryer. Cook at 180C for 10 minutes, turning it up to 200C for the last 2 minutes. In the oven, they’ll take a little longer to cook, say 15 minutes.

While the koftas cook you can boil your bulgar wheat/cous cous as per packet instructions if you haven’t already and prepare the salad bits, then arrange on the plates you’re eating from. I like to put a base of lettuce on one side, then top with tomato, cucumber and olives, then grains on the other side as a bed for the koftas. Red onion gets sprinkled over everything.

To make the courgette tzatziki, grate the courgette onto some kitchen roll, then wrap it up and squeeze out any excess moisture over the sink. Tip the dry courgette gratings into a bowl and add the lemon, seasoning and yoghurt and combine.

When cooked, add the koftas to your plate of salad and grains, along with the tzatziki, hummus and hot sauce, crumbled feta, herbs and crunchy chickpeas.