Lebanese Beef Kafta Dogs

Have you ever met or seen someone that you feel might be your long lost sibling? Or just the opposite-sex version of you? For me, that person is Jeff Mauro, i.e. “The Sandwich King” on the Food Network. As soon as we saw him on “The Next Food Network Star,” my husband and I immediately noticed how similar he was to me – a love of sandwiches and turning all types of food into sandwiches, an oddball demeanor in the kitchen, and a really strange sense of humor that isn’t for everyone. When we watch his show on weekend mornings, we often just laugh about the fact that my male counterpart scored a Food Network show.

Oh, and we have a similar food sensibility, as all of The Sandwich King’s recipes are to die for, even if they can be a bit labor intensive and time consuming. We’ve tried several of them, our favorite being my adaptation of Greek Taco Wraps. For today’s #WeekdaySupper, sponsored by  The Beef Checkoff, I thought I would adapt Jeff Mauro’s Kefta Dog with Roasted Tomatoes, Ballpark Style into a quick weeknight meal made with ground beef. While the original recipe requires 25 minutes of prep time plus 1 hour, 40 minutes of cook time (!!!), my version can be prepared in just about 20 minutes.

Kofta/kefta/kafta is a Middle Eastern meatball or skewer, usually consisting of beef or lamb mixed with onion and spices. In my recipe, versatile ground beef is flavored with just enough onion, garlic, herbs and spices to give it some extra flavor, but not too much so that you can’t taste the great flavor of the meat itself. Instead of shaping the beef onto skewers, I skipped the skewers and formed the meat into hot dog-shaped logs. After a quick trip to the grill, I finished the beef kafta dogs with a simple Greek yogurt sauce, cucumber and tomatoes.

For more tasty recipes made with beef, make sure you follow the Beef – Let’s Celebrate Pinterest Board. You can also find The Beef Checkoff on Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest.

Lebanese Beef Kafta Dogs

Yield: 4 servings

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 6 minutes

Print Recipe

Ingredients:

For the Beef Kafta Dogs:

• 2 garlic cloves, minced


• 1 pound ground beef


• 1/3 cup finely minced yellow onion


• 2 teaspoons dried parsley


• 2 teaspoons ground coriander


• 1 teaspoon ground cumin


• 1/2 teaspoon allspice


• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt


• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

For the Yogurt Sauce:

• Juice of 1/2 lemon


• 1/2 cup Greek yogurt


• 1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest


• 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano


• Pinch of kosher salt and ground black pepper

For Serving:

• 4 hot dog buns


• 1/2 cucumber, diced


• 1 Roma tomato, diced

Directions:

1. Make Beef Kafta Dogs: Preheat grill for direct grilling over medium-high heat. In large bowl, mix garlic, beef, onion, parsley, coriander, cumin, allspice, salt and pepper until well combined. Divide mixture into 4 portions; shape each portion into a 5- to 6-inch-long hot-dog shaped log.


2. Transfer kafta dogs to grill and cook 6 to 8 minutes for medium doneness.


3. Meanwhile, make Yogurt Sauce: In small bowl, stir together lemon juice, yogurt, lemon zest, oregano, salt and pepper.


4. Serve Beef Kafta Dogs in hot dog buns with Yogurt Sauce, cucumber and tomato.

Adapted from Jeff Mauro.

Make sure you check out this week’s other easy #WeekdaySupper recipes!

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