Greek Lamb Sliders with Cucumber-Mint Sauce

One of my husband’s absolute favorite recipes of mine are these Greek Lamb Meatballs. No kidding, he requests for them at least once a week. To make them a little more festive and gameday friendly, I decided to basically deconstruct my meatball and turn it into cute little sliders — Greek Lamb Sliders with Cucumber-Mint Sauce. They are just as good as the meatballs and just as easy to make! Make your gamedays with friends (or just any outdoor get together) a little more special by turning a traditional slider into one of these fancy looking lamb sliders. You’ll only have to put a few more minutes of time and effort into them, but it will seem like you went above and beyond to make these beauties. And they will get devoured. So make plenty! We had plenty of leftover sauce, so even if you double or triple the number of sliders, you’ll have plenty of Cucumber-Mint sauce to go around. I hope you — and your guests — love these Greek Lamb Sliders with Cucumber-Mint Sauce!

Ingredients (Makes 6 Sliders):

• For the Sliders:
  • 1 lb. Ground Lamb
  • 1 egg
  • 1/4 tsp. cumin
  • 1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper
  • 1/2 tsp. garlic salt
  • 1/2 tsp. black pepper
  • 1 tbsp. red wine vinegar
  • 1 tbsp. freshly chopped dill
  • 1 tbsp. freshly chopped mint
  • 6 whole wheat mini or “slider” buns
• For Garnish:
  • 1/2 cucumber, sliced thinly
  • arugula
  • 1/4 red onion, sliced thinly
  • feta cheese crumbles
• For the Cucumber-Mint Sauce:
  • 1/2 cucumber, peeled, seeded and chopped
  • 1 cup Siggi’s Plain Yogurt 0% milkfat
  • 2 tbsp. fresh chopped mint
  • 2 cloves of garlic
  • 1 tbsp. lemon juice
  • salt and pepper, to taste

Method:

1.  First, make the cucumber-mint sauce.  Combine the yogurt, mint, lemon juice, garlic and cucumber in a food processor or blender and blend until smooth.  Season with salt and pepper to taste and set in the fridge until ready to use.

2. Next, In a bowl, combine all ingredients “for the sliders” (except for the buns).  Using your hands, mend together all ingredients until just combined, but do not overwork the meat.  Form into 6 separate slider meat patties.

3.  Fire up your grill or grill pan over medium-high heat.  Cook lamb burgers until desired doneness, about 2-3 minutes each side for medium-rare depending on thickness, turning once.

4.  While the lamb is cooking, place the buns on the other side of grill or grill pan to toast.  ((I like to brush mine with a little bit of olive oil and throw them in the oven on broil until lightly toasted, about 3-4 mins only!))

5.  To assemble your sliders, spread cucumber-mint sauce on one side of bun then layer sliced cucumber, the red onions, the arugula, the meat patty, then top with the feta cheese.   Hold together by using a large toothpick and serve immediately.