I LOVE falafel. It is one of those foods I only have once in a while from a food truck or a take out restaurant and I always think to myself “I should make this at home.” After Craig and I grabbed falafel last weekend he persuaded me to make a healthier version. Challenge accepted!
Falafel is actually an incredibly simple vegan recipe. Just combine chickpeas with parsley, onions and a whole bunch of spices and cook. Traditionally, falafel is deep fried, but I decided to bake them instead. I baked and then broiled for a few minutes to get a crisp exterior.
There are many fabulous ways to eat falafel. I made some tasty falafel pitas one night and then used the leftovers to make a wonderful falafel salad.
- Sandwich: In a whole wheat pita, add three falafel balls, 1 tbsp of hummus, sprouts and chopped tomatoes and cucumbers. Craig added some sriracha for spice too.
- Salad: Mix greens with tomatoes, cucumbers, olives, red onion, cilantro, sesame seeds and top with falafel balls and some sesame dressing.
The best part of this recipe is that each serving (3 balls) is ONLY 153 calories! This is such a quick recipe too – about 25-30 minutes and you have multiple servings to last you a few days.
- 1.5 cups of dry chickpeas, soaked or boiled (see note)
- ¼ cups chickpea water
- 1 medium onion, peeled and cut into chunks
- 4-5 cloves of garlic, peeled
- ½ cup fresh parsley, washed and chopped
- zest and juice of ½ lemon
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 2 tbsp whole wheat flour
- 1.5 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp coriander
- 1 tsp baking powder
- olive oil cooking spray
- Preheat oven to 375
- Combine all ingredients in a food processor and puree
- Spray a cookie sheet with olive oil spray
- Carefully shape mixture into golf ball sized balls
- Place on cookie sheet
- Bake for 15 minutes
- Turn on the broil and broil for 5 minutes to crisp
- Serve
