Home Made Falafel (YUM)

Hello Falafel!

So I saw this recipe for crock pot falafel on pinterest the other day and was intrigued. I love falafel and  they are super healthy (minus the frying). So basically, what I am saying is that chickpeas are healthy. They are full of fiber and protein, not to mention a ton of other vitamins. Like 95%of falafel is chick peas so we are taking a step in a healthy direction. I was so hungry when I made these I did not want to make them in the crock pot. I just pan fried them with a bit of cooking spray and a tsp of olive oil.


I totally will make these in a crock pot some time because they were really easy to put together and I love coming home to a meal that is already cooked. Oh…and a cooking hint on these. I used steel cut oats in these as a binder instead of bread crumbs. I added about 2 tsp of whole wheat bread crumbs also. Oatmeal bumps up the fiber content ( keeps you fuller, longer.) Feel free to add what you like and test one out first. If it falls apart, you need more breadcrumbs/oats. You want to make sure they are slightly wet, but not falling apart. I really loved this recipe. It brings out all of the flavors of falafel I love. I served with some tahini and pita. Serve with whatever you like!

Ingredients:

- 1 15oz can garbanzo beans (chick peas)

- 1/2 onion, chopped

-1 T dried parsley

- 2 cloves minced garlic

- 1 egg

- 1 t kosher salt

- 1/4 t blackpepper

- 2 t groundcumin

- 1 t groundcoriander

- 1/4 t cayennepepper

- juice from 1 lemon

- 1/2 to 3/4 cup bread crumbs ( I used oats also)

- 2 T olive oil (for the bottom of your crock)

The Directions

Drain garbanzo beans. Dump them into a mixing bowl and smash them with a fork ( I used a potato masher- heavy duty lol). Set aside.

Combine and blend together all of the spices, the onion, the garlic,the egg, and the lemon juice in a food processor. ( I did not do this.) I was too lazy to take out my food processor. I grated the onion with a grater and mixed it with everything else.

Pour on top of your smashed garbanzo beans. Use your fork tomix together, and add the breadcrumbs (or oats) slowly until the mixture is slightly wet andsticky but can be formed into balls nicely. I needed 1 cup of a cup ofbreadcrumbs/oats.

Pour 2 T of olive oil into the bottom of your crockpotstoneware insert.

Form squished golf-ball sized patties of falafel. Dip eachside into the olive oil and then nestle into your crockpot. It's okay if theyoverlap or are on top of each other.

Cook on high for 2-5 hours. You can flip them halfway through the cooking time if you feel like it, butthey will brown on top even without flipping.

** If you just can’t wait that long and choose to cook them on the stove top (like I did) , sauté them for about three minutes on each side and flip. If they are falling apart, you need to add more binder (ie breadcrumbs or oats)

Sadly, I wanted to eat these so badly I ate this while taking the photos.