Now on to the food and my first Craving Ellie in My Belly post for September! This week's recipe was Baked Falafel Sandwiches and hosted by Elina of Healthy and Sane (healthy and sane, that is something I strive for). I was very excited to make this recipe because I love me some falafel. When I studied in Melbourne (in Australia, not Florida), my friends and I used to frequent kebab shops after a night at the bars. Since I was a vegetarian at the time, I stuck with falafel and it always brings back good memories.
Despite the number of ingredients, this recipe was quite easy to put together. It starts off with chickpeas, onion, garlic, parsley, cilantro, coriander, cumin, salt and olive oil in a food processor. I quickly learned that my mini food processor doesn't really cut it for things like this, but I made it work.
After combining the main ingredients in the food processor (20 seconds, I don't think so, Ellie!), time to make the falafel. The mixture was moist, but not super sticky so it was pretty easy to form 16 falafel balls and plop them onto a baking sheet sprayed with olive oil. I used my Misto olive oil sprayer to spray olive oil over the falafels rather than brushing them. Yeah lazy! Or efficient. Definitely efficient.
While those hung out in the oven for 40 minutes (turning halfway through), I worked the tahini sauce and "salad." I learned that tahini is not the cheapest ingredient out there, but I have a large container of it and I will find other ways to use it. The tahini sauce was very easy--tahini, lemon juice, and water stirred until mixed into desired sauce consistency.
The "salad" consisted of lettuce, seeded diced cucumber and tomato. Unfortunately, my tomatoes decided to grow Santa Claus like beards so I had to toss them. Ho Ho...not in my falafel sandwich, so I stuck with lettuce (I used a salad mix because I had it on hand) and cucumber.
To put the sandwiches together, I toasted pita pockets in the oven, split them, and filled with tahini sauce, salad, and falafel. That's it--so easy!
That picture doesn't really look like falafel, but I was too anxious to try it to take another one.
I made C2 stop eating for a moment to let me take a picture of his half-eaten falafel. He enjoyed it as much as I did, though we both thought the sandwiches were definitely filling. I'm hoping the falafel reheats well because we have enough leftover for dinner tomorrow as well.
Your falafel turned out great! I loved this, too. You can use your tahini sauce for lots of stuff. It's great in all kinds of dips, such as hummus, and if you like edamame you can make a hummus with that as well. I know all this because I, too, have found myself stuck with jars of leftover tahini and had no clue what to do with it all!
ReplyDeleteGreat post. I'm sure it wasn't a pleasant surprise, but I am laughing at your Santa Claus tomatoes! And I always find it amazing how certain foods can bring back such strong memories of the past, like your time in Australia. Music is the same way for me.
ReplyDeleteGood luck with the knitting! I started a couple years ago but put it aside for a bit and am now relearning. I remember it being quite relaxing - after I got the hang of it, of course :)
I have a bunch of leftovers too! I hoping they make a good lunch.
ReplyDeleteGreat job on the felafel. I had never had before. It was different.
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