Recipe: Falafel Salad
My falafel is great. I’m pretty sure this is not how you’re supposed to make falafel, authentically speaking, but it’s how I make it, and it’s great. The mix can be whizzed up in about 10 minutes, cooks in as much time as it takes to prepare the salad, and it keeps in the fridge really well (actually it forms firmer falafel after) so you can make a bunch and cook it up for dinner or lunch at your convenience. You’ll need a hand blender/chopper like the one below for this recipe, you don’t really want to nuke it in a nutribullet or similar because a bit chunky is better.
Per serving nutritional info:
Falafel only (half of the mix): 272 calories, 10g fat, 34g carbs, 12g protein
Including the pictured salad: 509 cals, 53g carbs, 35g fat, 20g protein
Ingredients:
For the falafel (2 servings):
1 red onion, roughly chopped- 2 cloves garlic
- 1.5 tsp ground coriander
- 1 tsp cumin
- pinch of thyme (well, I actually use Za’atar given to me by a pal, but it’s much the same as thyme)
- 1/4 tsp chilli powder
- handful fresh coriander and parsley, roughly chopped
- 1 tin chickpeas, drained
- healthy pinch of salt
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1-2 red chillis, de-seeded, roughly chopped
And then the salad (1 serving):
- half a bag of rocket
- half an avocado
- 5-6 fancy plum tomatoes
- 1/4 cucumber
- 50g hummus
To make the falafel simply put all of the falafel ingredients into the whizzer (put the herbs at the bottom so they don’t get stuck at the top) and… whizz! Now, I’ve never got the same result twice consistency wise, pretty much everything works, but generally you sort of want a stiff-ish mix. So don’t whizz for too long, just until it’s all mixed together. You don’t want a hummus texture, you want something that you can mould in your hands. If you get a slightly too thin mixture don’t panic though, add a little spelt or wholemeal flour (like a tsp) to bind and you’ll be able to fix it.
Heat up the oil in a non-stick pan until sizzling hot, then using a large tsp scoop half the mix into 4 similar size amounts, moulding into balls as you go. Drop them onto the frying pan (you want it very hot so they seal and don’t stick to the pan), and as soon as they’re brown on one side, carefully flip/nudge them over until they’re brown on all sides. They’re pretty soft when you eat them, but I really like that and it means you can eat them without a dressing. I serve this on a salad of rocket, posh tomatoes, cucumber, half an avocado, and if I’m feeling lavish, 50g hummus. Totally vegan this, and genuinely very tasty.
