I really enjoy falafel. The two best falafels I ever had were in Israel and the Jewish quarter in Paris. I have never tried to make Falafel at home because deep frying things is messy and not really my thing. But baking things, I love baking things. This recipe is the bomb dot com (Amy if you are reading this, that was for you).
This recipe is so good. I mean SO good! Camera man approved, and we all know how critical he is. I literally just ate a plate of falafel. Next time I will either put it in a pita with all fun veggies, or make it with a great side salad: cucumber and tomatoes diced very small with EVOO and lemon juice. Something like this.
Ingredients:
- 1 Cup Raw garbanzo beans (aka chick peas) these beans will be soaked in water for at LEAST an hour- over night is great. DO NOT USE CANNED BEANS- it will NOT work for this recipe.
- 1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves
- 1/2 cup fresh parsley leaves
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp coriander (if you do not have coriander do not worry- just skip it)
- 1/2 tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp salt
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 1/2 small onion or 1/4 of a medium diced
- 2-3 tbs EVOO
Directions:
- preheat oven to 375 (I like to put the pan in the oven so it is hot when you put the falafel on it)
- soak beans for at least an hour -or overnight in water
- drain beans and rinse
- dice onions and garlic
- put everything in food processor: beans, oil, onions and garlic, dry spices cilantro and parsley
- mix for about 1-2 minutes or until it is well mixed
- Take the pan out let it cool off just a little. Add a generous amount of EVOO to the pan. Make little balls with the falafel mixture. Mixture will be softer than you expect it to be. Do not worry if it is a little runny.
- Bake the balls for 15 minutes - turn them over with spatula and bake for another 10-12 minutes. You want a little browning on top.
TAHINI DRESSING:
This dressing is very versatile and it can be used as a salad dressing or you can dump it right into a pita wrap filled with falafel and veggies. Or you can dunk your falafel right into the dressing like I did!
I might need to perfect this dressing a bit but I think this works:
- juice from 1 large lemon
- 2 tbs of tahini
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 cumin
- a little water to get it mixing and some EVOO (pour maybe 2 TBS of EVOO and as much water as you think to make it the consistency you want. Maybe 1/4 cup ?)
- sometimes garlic powder is good!
- BLEND TOGETHER :)
I rarely ever measure the dressing and I kind of just go for it! Play around with this dressing recipe or look up another one that you like. Let me know how it goes! How did you eat your falafel?
XO
