Randa’s Kebab….Salt Lake City Memories
While working on my PhD, Ivan and I lived in Salt Lake City. We had friends, Ryad and Randa who were also working on degrees at the University of Utah. Hanging with Ryad and Randa and their daughter Jenin are some of my favorite memories about from that time. Not only were Ryad and Randa dear friends but Randa was an amazing cook. All of my Middle Eastern recipes came from Randa. We would often go up Millcreek canyon and prepare and cook food. While Elena was in Ramallah, she was able to meet up with Ryad and catch up on his life teaching at Birzeit University. Randa was unable to meet but Elena’a meeting with Ryad was something that really touched me-she was able to visit with one of my most favorite people as a grownup and share ideas as a young adult. She sent pictures at the time and the sight of her with Ryad is one I will not long forget. Randa 
has many amazing recipes and I hope to post all of them at some point, but this one is for kebab. Over the years I have made this so many times that her handwritten copy is stained and worn. I’ve added cumin and cardamom to the original and I like to put dried parsley and onions in which help absorb some of the fat from the hamburger. Otherwise, this is Randa’s original recipe. In case you doubt the quality of Randa’s cooking, she also ran a very successful restaurant in Salt Lake City where I ate and studied almost every night of the final year of my PhD. Randa’s kabob was a favorite there. It is also a favorite of my family. Last night I tripled the recipe expecting leftovers but the four of us ate every last bite. Good luck having leftovers…
Randa's Kebabs
Ingredients:
1 pound ground beef, extra lean
½ teaspoons coarsely ground black pepper
¼ teaspoon cumin
1/8 teaspoon cardamom
¾ teaspoon coriander
1/2 teaspoon allspice
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley
½ medium sized grated onion
½ teaspoon salt
1 green pepper cut into 1 inch pieces
2 tomatoes cut into 1 inch pieces
1 large onion cut into 1 inch pieces
Pita bread
Preparation:
Mix all but the green pepper, tomatoes, large onion and pita bread together in a “fluffing” manner.. Shape into long hot-dog sized pieces. Thread the onions, peppers and tomatoes onto shish kabob sticks. Broil or grill the meat and vegetables until done. Serve with pita bread.
