A Tuesday Quickie - Falafel

Falafel!!

Economical. Healthy. Tasty!

Sean's home! If only for a week or so it is so good to have him near. For many a reason - I won't let my saucy thoughts wander here. I am happy.I am spoiled. He cooked for me a few of my favorites.....including falafel. He was so thoughtful when he stopped in at the market to grab some fresh pita and yogurt to make a fabulous meal. He also made my favorite carrot, raisin arugula salad that I could eat by the truck loads.

We enjoyed our time together in the kitchen. We also made fattoush, without tomato, cucumber sauce and hummus. It was so nice to sit down and share a meal we cooked together. We had dessert too! Now, dessert, that really was something we cooked up together.

Falafel - You need to soak the chick peas over night to use the next day. The chick peas are not cooked. You can also make the recipe with canned chick peas that are drained and rinsed. Sean has also used fresh favas that have been peeled in combination with chick peas.

Falafel

1 cup dried chickpeas
1/2 onion
fresh parsley - handful
fresh cilantro - handful
1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper
Jalapeno - to taste

4 cloves of garlic
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon baking powder
4 tablespoons flour

Place dried chick peas in bowl. cover with water. Soak chickpeas overnight.


Placed drained soaked chickpeas in bowl of food processor with onion, parsley, cilantro, salt, pepper, jalapeno, garlic and cumin. Pulse until blended but not mushy. Add baking powder and flour and pulse to combine. Make sure mixture is not too sticky.

Note: I made a big batch of this for a wedding once and we did not use any flour. Just a heads up for my GF friends. If available you could use a GF flour mix in place of regular flour!

Refrigerate mixture for a few hours.

Fry walnut size balls in oil till golden and crispy. If balls falls apart when frying add a little more flour to mix.

Serve with hummus, tahini dressing, cucumber sauce, hot sauce, fattoush, tabbouleh, rice....the possibilities are endless.

Enjoy!

Carrot Raisin Salad

4 carrots shredded

1/2 cup raisins, soaked in a little hot water then drained
2 handfuls arugula chopped, spinach will work too

2 tsp dijon mustard

2 tsp shallot, minced

1/8 tsp cumin

2 TBS Cider vinegar

1/3 cup olive oil

1 tsp honey

salt and pepper to taste

Toss carrots, raisins and arugula together in a bowl. Mix remaining ingredients together to make dressing. Toss carrot mix with dressing. Serve chilled or at room temperature.

Enjoy!

Sharing food with another human being is an intimate act

that should not be indulged in lightly. M.F. K. Fisher