Lamb Kofta with Tzatziki and Bulgur Salad

The secret to kofta that hold together is to knead the mince for a couple of minutes, like bread dough, until it turns sticky. Squeeze the grated onion and cucumber dry as well, or the kofta slide off the skewers and the tzatziki turns watery.

Dinner

Serves 4 (2 kofta each)

Grilled lamb kofta on skewers with a bowl of tzatziki and a bulgur wheat salad with tomatoes, cucumber and parsley

Ingredients

For the kofta
400g lamb mince
1 small onion, coarsely grated (about 80g)
2 cloves garlic, crushed
A small handful each of parsley and mint, finely chopped
1 tsp ground cumin, 1 tsp ground coriander, half a tsp ground cinnamon
Half a tsp salt and plenty of black pepper
For the tzatziki
250g 0% fat Greek yogurt
Half a cucumber (about 150g), coarsely grated
1 small clove garlic, crushed, and a little chopped mint
1 tbsp lemon juice and 1 tsp olive oil
For the bulgur salad
150g bulgur wheat
250g cherry tomatoes, quartered
The other half of the cucumber, diced
4 spring onions, sliced
A large handful of parsley, chopped
Juice of 1 lemon and 2 tbsp olive oil
You will also need 8 skewers (soak wooden ones in water for 20 minutes)

Method

Put the bulgur in a bowl with a pinch of salt, pour over 300ml boiling water, cover and leave for 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, squeeze the grated onion in a clean tea towel to get rid of its juice. Put it in a large bowl with the lamb, garlic, herbs, spices, salt and pepper.
Knead the mixture with your hands for 2 minutes, until it becomes sticky and holds together in one mass. This binds the meat so the kofta stay on the skewers.
Divide into 8 portions and squeeze each one around a skewer into a sausage about 12cm long. Chill for 15 minutes if you have time.
For the tzatziki, squeeze the grated cucumber in the tea towel as well, then mix it with the yogurt, garlic, mint, lemon juice and oil. Season.
Fluff the bulgur with a fork. Stir in the tomatoes, diced cucumber, spring onions, parsley, lemon juice and olive oil, and season.
Heat a griddle pan or grill to high. Cook the kofta for 8 to 10 minutes, turning every couple of minutes, until browned and cooked through, with no pink left in the middle. Rest for 2 minutes.
Serve the kofta on the bulgur salad with a generous spoonful of tzatziki. They also work well on a barbecue.

Why it works

A serving has about 32g of protein, from the lamb and from the tzatziki, which is made with strained Greek yogurt rather than a thin sauce. Lamb also brings the kind of iron the body absorbs best, plus zinc and vitamin B12, all of which men and women over 40 are sometimes short of.

The portion is deliberate. The NHS advises that anyone eating more than 90g of red and processed meat a day, cooked weight, should cut down to 70g. Here 400g of raw lamb shared between four comes to roughly 70g cooked each, so a proper plate of meat still sits within that advice. If you eat red meat most days, it is worth keeping an eye on the total.

Bulgur wheat is the part people skip. It is a whole grain that only needs soaking, not cooking, so it is quicker than rice, and it keeps its fibre. With the tomatoes, cucumber and herbs, a serving has about 7g of fibre, which slows how quickly the carbohydrate reaches the blood. That is why this is tagged for blood sugar as well as testosterone.

Greek yogurt does double duty: extra protein and a cool contrast to the spices. Garlic appears three times, because it belongs in every part of this dish.

For a beef dinner with a similar balance, see the beef and black bean chilli. For how protein, fat and body weight affect testosterone, see the best diet for testosterone.

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