Falafel

ratherbeswimmin''s Note:

A Middle Eastern delight. I don't know how authentic this recipe is but it is my favorite.

• Total Time: 38 mins
• Prep Time: 30 mins
• Cook Time: 8 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 4

• 4 scallions , cut into 1 inch pieces
• 2 cloves garlic , halved
• ½ cup coarsely chopped fresh cilantro
• ¼ cup coarsely chopped fresh mint
• 1 (15 ounce) can chickpeas , rinsed and drained
• ½ cup plain dried breadcrumbs
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon sea salt
• 1 teaspoon Tabasco sauce
• vegetable oil cooking spray
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 4 pita pockets , warmed
• shredded lettuce
• chopped tomato
• sliced onion

Herbed Cucumber Yogurt

• 1 cup plain low-fat yogurt
• 1 clove garlic , minced
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 kirby cucumber , seeded and chopped
• sea salt
• pepper

Directions:

1. To make Herbed Cucumber Yogurt: Add all yogurt ingredients to a mixing bowl; whisk to combine; cover and chill until ready to serve.
2. To make Falafel: Add the scallions, garlic, cilantro, and mint to the container of a food processor; pulse until mixture is finely chopped.
3. Add the chickpeas, breadcrumbs, cumin, baking powder, salt, and Tabasco; continue to pulse until the batter has the consistency of cooked oatmeal.
4. Lightly oil hands and form mixture into 4 burger shaped patties.
5. Spray each patty lightly with cooking spray.
6. Let the olive oil get hot (but not smoking) in a large skillet over medium heat.
7. Fry patties for about 4 minutes on each side or until golden brown and crisp.
8. Transfer cooked patties to a paper-towel lined plate.
9. Put cooked patty into warmed pita pocket with shredded lettuce, chopped tomatoes, and sliced onions.
10. Serve with Herbed Cucumber Yogurt.

Reviews

[threeovens]

I've never had falafel before, but ratherbeswimmin' has never steered me wrong before. In fact, whenever I am choosing between recipes, I always go for her recipe. I don't care for mint so I used fresh basil (same family), other than that made as written. The first one fell apart, so I guess I didn't let the pan heat up enough, since the rest were fine. I went without the pita and served on a bed of lettuce with chopped tomatoes, sliced red onions, and the yogurt sauce.

[Yummy Yum]

This is SO good! It's become a regular favorite in my house. I like to skip forming it into patties and frying in a skillet more like loose hashbrowns, then mixing everything together with the vegetables and sauce in a bowl before putting into the pita pocket. Thanks!

[Chef #1124686]

I had some left-over cilantro hummus so I decided to use this as a base for falafel. I mixed the bread crumbs, mint, parsley, scallions, ground red pepper and baking powder then added the hummus (which was thick; not quite smooth as I'd like...which turned out to be good for this). Fried in iron skillet with olive oil for the 8 minutes. Burned it a bit so I'll have to play around with the heat next time. Didn't cook quite through but made a nice crust nonetheless. It was good; will definitely do this again. 4 stars instead of 5 since I didnt follow the recipe exactly. Will eat leftovers for breakfast :).