Cinnamon Stick Kebabs

Ingredients

Kebabs

• 1½ lb ground beef (or any ground meat of choice)
• 1 large onion
• 1 red bell pepper
• 1 cups parsley
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 jalapeño (optional)
• 1 tbsp paprika
• 1–2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp cumin
• ¼ cups olive oil
• 12–14 cinnamon sticks

Tahina

• 1 cups tahini (sesame paste)
• 1 lemon juice
• 1–2 tsp salt
• ¾ cups ice‑cold water

Spicy Schug

• 1 parsley
• 2 cilantro
• 6 jalapeños
• Handful garlic cloves
• ½ cups oil
• 2 tsp salt
• ½ tsp cumin (optional)

Instructions

1. Soak the cinnamon sticks in water while preparing the meat mixture to help prevent them from scorching.
2. Place the onion, red pepper, parsley, garlic, and jalapeño in a food processor and pulse until finely chopped. Transfer to a fine‑mesh strainer and squeeze out as much liquid as possible.
3. Add the vegetables to the ground meat along with the paprika, salt, black pepper, cumin, and olive oil. Mix until well combined.
4. Pat the cinnamon sticks dry. Firmly shape the meat around the top half of each cinnamon stick, leaving enough exposed to hold. If using shorter cinnamon sticks, simply use a little less meat.
5. Arrange on a baking sheet and bake at 375°F for 25 minutes, flipping halfway through if desired. Broil for the last 3–5 minutes for extra color.
6. Whisk together all of the tahina ingredients until smooth and creamy, adjusting the consistency with more water or tahini as needed.
7. Blend all of the schug ingredients in a food processor until finely chopped and well combined.
8. Serve in a warm pita, a crisp lettuce wrap, over rice, or simply dipped in tahina and spicy schug.