Baked Israeli Falafel

Meatless Mondays (aka MMs) is one day where we cut out meat for the week. It is a great way for Eric and I to mix up our dinner selections. MMs are a great way for us to incorporate more non-protein foods and enjoy another healthy meal at home. It keeps our food budget low because we are saving money by buying less meat for one day, too. (Saving $$$ is always a plus in my wallet.) Normally, pasta would be an easy fallback choice for non-proteins, but I like exploring culture through food.

Since I have been on a world fare food kick, I wanted to try falafels. They were something that I have never had never tried and sounded easy enough to prepare. I came across this recipe on one of my go-to recipe sites that I love Epicurious. Falafels are typically fried chickpeas and served in a pita paired with pickled vegetables, hot sauce and hummus. (Hmmm, sounds like my kind of food.) It had reminded me of a meatball sandwich without the meat! My baked falafels were very flavorful and parsley packed on top of a fluffy naan, topped with veggies, filled with store-bought roasted garlic hummus and feta cheese. Coincidentally this paired perfectly with the quinoa veggie salad that I had made, too. Cheap, fresh, delicious and healthy for ya! (WINNER!!)

Baked Israeli Falafel
Adapted from Epicurious
Makes about 20 balls
1 15-ounce can garbanzo beans, drained or use 1 pound chickapeas soaked overnight
1 small onion, finely chopped
2-3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 bunch of fresh parsley, chopped
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 teaspoon coriander
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Drain and rinse the garbanzo beans. Place garbanzo beans and the rest of the ingredients in a food processor and pulse until completely combined. Shape into small balls, about golf sized and slightly flatten. Place onto an oiled baking sheet.

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until nicely browned (since it’s baked, only the part actually touching the pan will be browned and crispy).

Serve with pita bread or naan, hummus, feta cheese, tomatoes, lettuce and/or cucumber.

Review: This was a great vegetarian meal for our meatless Monday selection. The colors on my plate were pretty as a rainbow, and this was a very filling meal. The baked israeli falafels were quite flavorful and earthy and fit perfectly as a falafel pita'wich. I bet the fried version are out of this world, but I'll pass on the heart attack for another time. ;-)