I’ve been craving a big, messy burger lately. There are only a few brands of frozen veggie burgers that I like and I didn’t have any on hand, so I decided to make falafel burgers. They were amazing! The falafel, v. 2 recipe is so perfect for this because the combo of the dried chickpeas and flour hold the patty together so well that it doesn’t slide off the bun or fall apart like other homemade veggie patties. These were also so filling that I could only eat half. I’m almost ashamed to admit that our side of fries came from the freezer section of the grocery store. Oh well… sometimes you need a little of that.

Prepare the falafel recipe as directed using the full 6 TB of flour. Refrigerate for a few hours before cooking. Shape 6 (even) patties out of it and lightly pan fry in a teeny bit of canola oil. After pan frying, place in the oven for about 15 minutes to allow them to completely firm up. My oven was set to 450 degrees because that’s the temperature my fries needed to cook at. One note of advice: try to get your patties as thin as possible because they will poof up a bit as they cook.

The sauce was a combo of Tofutti BTSC, lemon juice, some finely diced cucumber, and fresh dill. These were super good and so much easier than making the little balls for traditional falafel.

Sadly, I do not have a photo of my new falafel recipe, but it turned out so well that I had to post it here.  My previous falafel recipe had served me well for years, but I always found it to be somewhat mushy in the middle.  It would fall apart if I tried to fry it, so I always had to bake them, but they were still mushy in the middle.  After reading Carrie’s blog where she had the same problem before trying a different recipe, I decided to merge both recipes to keep the elements of mine that I like, but adding more firmness from hers.  It really worked out well.

Falafel, v. 2

1 cup dried chickpeas, soaked overnight

4 scallions, cut into 1 inch pieces

3 cloves garlic

1/2 cup chopped cilantro

1/4 cup chopped mint

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp Tabasco sauce

4-6 TB flour

Puree everything except the flour in the food processor.  Add the flour, but start with only 4 TB at first.  You want the falafel mix to come together, but to not stick to your hands.  If it is too sticky, add the rest of the flour.  Cover and refrigerate for several hours.  To cook, form them into balls or small patties.  Heat a small amount of oil in a nonstick skillet over medium high heat.  Fry the falafel in the oil to brown both sides.  Transfer to a baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes.  You could also deep fry them.

While visiting my parents over the weekend, my dad said that he’d never had a falafel before and didn’t even know what was in it.  I told him that I would make them the next time they visited and, true to my word, I made them tonight.  They ate ‘em up and even took some leftovers home.  They are so incredibly easy to make.  I wonder why we don’t have them more often?!

I’ve been using the same falafel recipe for a few years now and I’m not sure where it came from originally.  Sorry for not giving any credit to the original creator of my falafel recipe.

Falafel

2 green onions, cut into 1 inch pieces

2 cloves garlic

1/2 cup fresh cilantro

1/4 cup fresh mint

1 15-oz can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained

1/2 cup breadcrumbs (I use whole wheat)

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp Tabasco sauce

1 TB olive oil

Put everything into a food processor and process until smooth.  You can either make them into patties or balls.  I use a cookie scooper and scoop them onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes, or until they are golden brown.  You can also pan fry them, but I usually end up making a huge mess when I go that route– baking is much easier and less fatty.

Not the most attractive photo, I know (my plate is on an Elmo placement, by the way, in case you were wondering about all those words).  I served ours up on top of some middle eastern flatbread that I can always find at Trader Joe’s, topped with chopped lettuce, tomatoes, and some dill pickles.  I know, the dill pickles sound like an odd topping for falafels, but they are really quite tasty.  The sauce that I make to go with the falafels is made from 2 TB mayo (or vegan mayo), 2 TB Tofutti Better Than Sour Cream (thanks to Amy’s tip, I was able to find some at Whole Foods), juice of 1 lemon, 1/2 cup chopped cucumber, and about 2 TB chopped fresh dill.  Combine all of those ingredients and thin it out a bit with some plain rice (or soy) milk until it is the right consistency.

On the side, I threw together a quick tabbouleh, which turned out really good.

Tabbouleh

1/2 cup bulgar

1 cup water

1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

1/2 cup chopped fresh mint

1 cup chopped kale

1 cup chopped cucumber

1 1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, cut in half

1 cup diced red onion, soaked in several changes of water (optional, but I find that doing this removes the raw onion after taste)

1/4 cup lemon juice

1/4 cup olive oil

S&P to taste

Cook the bulgar in the water.  Meanwhile, put all of the other ingredients into a bowl.  When the bulgar is cooked, add it in and stir.  Taste for seasoning and adjust, if necessary.

I know that kale isn’t a traditional tabbouleh ingredient, but it really has no flavor when it is raw (at least to me it doesn’t) and I thought it would be a good addition here to boost the nutrition of the dish.  The only thing it contributed was extra vitamins and fiber– if I hadn’t known it was in there, I wouldn’t have thought that anything was amiss.