I have been recipe testing a LOT late, with the ingredient aquafaba. In case you haven't heard of this ingredient {which is pretty much everybody}, it's the liquid inside the can of chickpeas. It's all rage right now in the vegan community; it was first discovered while being used in a meringue. Read the whole story here.
Needless to say after aquafaba testing, I had a lot of garbanzo beans leftover. I was in the mood for something savor after all that baking. So I ended up going the falafel route. I wanted a cross between a veggie burger and a falafel - full of protein and flavorful herbs and spices - and what better to pair it with than a great tangy, creamy sauce. I played around with flavors and textures and came up with a really great simple recipe.
While I ate mine wrapped in a tortilla with greens, my kids enjoyed them a la carte with a side of ketchup - duh!
Baked Chickpea Falafel Recipe
yields 14-16 falafel
INGREDIENTS
2 cans garbanzo beans, liquid drained
1 ½ cooked rice (if you're in a hurry, get it pre-cooked)
1 lemon, juice only
1 clove garlic
½ cup pimentos
handful chopped fresh herbs like parsley, tarragon, cilantro and/or basil
1 Tbls jalapeno, chopped
3 Tbls oil {I used odorless coconut, you can use olive oil}
1 teaspoon sea salt
2 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
INSTRUCTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Using a food processor with the s blade, put all the above ingredients into the bowl and pulse until blended, then let it run for a good 30 seconds, until it's still chunky but also pretty smooth. See photos above.
Using an ice cream scooper and a cookie sheet, you'll want to create falafel balls and place them about 1.5 inches apart. You can grease the cookie sheet or use parchment, like I did. See photo above.
You'll want to cook the falafel balls for about 30 minutes. Keep checking on them as all ovens are different. You might even want to taste one before completely cooling them all. They will be lightly crunchy and brown around edges when done.
You can feel free to add any sauce you'd like. I did a tahini lemon sauce along with my queso loco sauce. Or a traditional tzatziki sauce.
Tahini Lemon Sauce Recipe
⅓ cup tahini
2 Tbls fresh lemon juice {about ½ a lemon}
1 garlic clove {pressed or minced and mashed fine}
1 Tbls olive oil
¼ teaspoon sea salt
4 to 6 Tbls water
Pinch cumin
Whisk everything except for the water. Keep whisking until thoroughly blended. Add the water one Tablespoon at a time. You'll want it to be almost like a creamy yogurt sauce consistency. Add more lemon if needed as well.
Enjoy with your falafel.
Happy cooking! And until next time...
xoxo,
Juli
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