
Earlier this summer I went camping for the first time in years. There’s a campground my family’s been going to since I was a wee pony-tailed scruffy prepubescent. My memories are vivid — the lake sitting like a jewel, mountains arching behind it, the sun bouncing off everything playfully as we spent hours in the shallows catching frogs and tiny crustaceans.

Only when our little stomachs grumbled would we stop playing monopoly, shake the sand out of our books and set them aside, trundling up to the lean-to where adults would be dishing out hot dogs and beans. I’d shove as many zebra cakes as possible into my shorts, sneak them into my tent and fall asleep eating them. It was glorious.
Now that I’m technically a grown-up, camping is a lot more work.
The packing, unpacking, repacking. Sweeping the tent?? Re-stuffing stubborn sleeping bags back into their cocoons. Securing the food so raccoons don’t invade… The list goes on and on.
Granted, half those things are fun — and of course the best part for me was planning our menu and cooking it outside. For someone who lives in a third floor studio in a little city I felt like a regular ol’ squirel-huntin’, fire-startin’ Katniss Everdeen.


Going for meals that I could do all of the major prep at home and ahead of time was the goal. Everything was one pan and done in twenty minutes.
Don’t worry, there were still Zebra Cakes.

These Moroccan Spiced Lamb Meatballs are fragrant with cinnamon and cumin, studded with sweet golden raisins and salty bits of caper.


Moroccan Spiced Lamb Meatballs
Ingredients
- 1 LB ground lamb
- 1 small white onion diced
- 3 garlic cloves diced
- 2 scallions sliced
- 1/4 cup golden raisens
- 2 TB breadcrumbs
- 1 egg
- zest of one lemon
- 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tsp capers
- 1 tsp each: kosher salt, cinnamon, cumin, pepper, chile flakes
- cilantro or dill, sesame seeds, pomegranate molasses for topping
- toasty naan for serving
Instructions
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Get all the meatball ingredients in a large bowl and gently mix until just combined.
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** I like to let the meatball mixture marinate overnight for flavor development but it’s not essential. **
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Portion out golf-ball sized meatballs.
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Preheat your largest skillet over medium heat with a healthy slick of oil.
Once the pan is hot, add the meatballs, don’t crowd, let sizzle.
Brown each side, then cover the pan to let them cook through — alternatively finish in the oven for 10 minutes at 350* — it’s your meatball.
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Serve meatballs hot, with your chosen sides. Top with a shower of herbs and sesame seeds and many drizzles of pomegranate molasses.
Recipe Notes
- I served this with whipped feta, tomato jam, cilantro yogurt sauce, couscous, cucumber salad and greens for a complete meal.
- May sub beef for lamb.

Stay Curious.
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