Recipe - Neo-Traditional Falafel

[Guest guest]

Had this for dinner tonight. It was good, even hubby and son (the meat eaters)

said it was good and filling. Its another recipe from Crescent Dragonwagon's

Passionate Vegetarian...

 

Neo-Traditional Falafel

 

Falafel:

1/4 cup bulghur or cracked wheat

1/2 cup water, preferably spring or filtered

1 15 or 16 ounce can chickpeas, well drained

2 cloves garlic

1 large egg

1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon cumin

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric

1/4 teaspoon ground coriander

1 pinch cayenne

2 tablespoons finely chopped italian parsley

1/3 cup crisp bread crumbs

cooking spray

Accompaniments:

Tahini Dressing (recipe follows) (we used greek yogurt)

Kibbutz Salad (recipe follows)

Toasted whole wheat pita breads

 

Soak the bulghur or cracked wheat. If using bulghur, simply warm the water, pour

it over the bulghur, and let soak for 20 minutes. For cracked wheat, a coarser

whole grain, bring the water to a boil, stir in the cracked wheat, and let soak

for 1 hour (or even overnight). Most or all of the water will be absorbed; drain

off any water that is left.

 

Place half of the chickpeas in a medium bowl and mash slightly with a

potato-masher or your knuckles; they should still have texture. Add the soaked

bulghur or cracked wheat.

 

Place the other half of the chickpeas in a food processor with the garlic, egg,

salt, cumin, pepper, turmeric, coriander, and cayenne. Process until smooth,

pasing several times to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the parsley and

bread crumbs and pulse/chop a few times.

 

Combine the processor mixture with the mashed chickpeas in the bowl. Taste, and

season the mixture to your liking, amping up any of the spices, salt, or

pepper. Refrigerate the mixture for 30 minutes, or as long as overnight, so it

can firm up.

 

Preheat the oven to 350F. Remove the falafel mix from the fridge, and shape it

into flattened discs, 20 to 25 small ones or 10 to 12 larger ones. Place them on

a nonstick baking sheet, or one that has been well sprayed with cooking spray,

and bake for 25 minutes. Remove from the oven, flip the cakes, and bake for 5

minutes on the other side, or until golden brown.

 

Serve with a drizzle of Tahini Dressing, a good scoop of Kibbutz Salad, and some

shredded romaine lettuce, all tucked into a toasted whole wheat pita bread.

 

Tahini Dressing

 

1/3 cup tahini

1/3 cup cold water, preferably spring or filtered

1 to 2 ounces reduced-fat silken tofu

Juice of 1 to 2 lemons

3 to 4 cloves garlic

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

1 dash cayenne

 

Combine all ingredients in a food processor and buzz until smooth.

 

Kibbutz Salad

 

2 to 3 fresh tomatoes, preferably densely red-ripe ones, diced

2 small cucumbers, preferably unwaxed, diced

3 scallions, thinly sliced

5 to 7 radishes, thinly sliced

1/2 teaspoon salt

Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Juice of 1 lemon

1 to 2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil

 

Combine all ingredients and toss well.