Lamb Kabobs With Roasted Beets And Figs

Total Time: 30 mins Preparation Time: 10 mins Cook Time: 20 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 4
• 1 large yellow onion, chopped
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• salt and pepper
• 1 1/2 lbs loin lamb, cut in 1 1/4 inch cubes
• 3 beets, tops trimmed close, roots intact
• balsamic vinegar
• orange juice
• 8 turkish dried figs or 8 fresh figs
• 2 lime slices
• mint sprig (to garnish)

Recipe

• 1 in a food processor or blender, reduce the onion to a thick, watery pulp.
• 2 remove it to piece of double cheesecloth or strong paper towels, and squeeze out all of the juice into a bowl large enough to hold the meat.
• 3 add the oil, cinnamon, salt, pepper and lamb to the onion juice. cover and marinate the lamb as long as possible, preferably overnight.
• 4 preheat oven to 375. put the beets on the middle oven rack and roast them for about 1 ½ hours or until they shrink and the skins shrivel.
• 5 allow them to cool enough to be handled and snip off the root. the skins will slip off easily by hand.
• 6 slice the beats thickly, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and drizzle generously with balsamic vinegar. refrigerate.
• 7 if you are using dried figs, cover them with orange juice and add 2 slices of lime. cover and microwave on high for 30 seconds.
• 8 allow them to stand long enough to become infused with the citrus and soft enough to be skewered. drain and cut them in half crosswise.
• 9 drizzle them with balsamic vinegar.
• 10 if you are using fresh figs, omit the citrus soak and simply cut them in half and dress with balsamic vinegar.
• 11 thread the skewers, starting and ending with the lamb.
• 12 fasten a slice of beet against the cut side of each fig half.
• 13 cook the kabobs on a grill for 10 minutes. serve immediately garnished with mint sprigs.