Whenever I want to eat vegetarian but don’t want to feel like I’m eating vegetarian, I make these Easy Falafel.  Other than making sure the dried chickpeas start soaking the day before, it’s a quite effortless task to make this delicious and healthy Middle Eastern fast food.  Plus, they are fried and anything fried is alright by me.

Confession time.  I’m going through a funky time right now with my blog.  When I first started blogging almost a year ago, I was very focused and had the time to post three days a week.  Now I have multiple things going on in my life that are all major time gobblers (my job, the camper reno, and the fact that it’s summer and I’m trying to spend as much free time outside as possible), I’ve struggled with getting back into the flow of writing and taking food photos more than once a week.  Combine all this with the fact that I am a perfectionist to the highest degree and I’m beginning to feel a little down about my blog being good enough.  As in, good enough at providing some value.  Lately, I just don’t see how any of my recipes or photos or the words that I write have any value.  When I sit down to write something, I pause after about two sentences and think, “OMG, this is some crap and I can’t write to save my life!  Who the hell is going to want to read this anyways?”   Then, I like to drive myself even more crazy and after I’ve gone through all the trouble of cooking the food for a post and start setting it up to photograph, I think, “This is not how a food stylist would set this up!  Where’s the creatively??  ARRRRGH!!”  Not to mention how much I stress myself out over whether or not I’ll actually take a decent photo DAYS BEFORE I even take the photo!  Yeah, I’m really good at making up stuff and pretending they are real problems.  I’m a ball of fun over here   Anyhow, I recently read a quote that Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson said, “Success at anything will always come down to this: Focus & Effort, and we control both.”  So basically I need to slack on all the other stuff in my life and focus more on this blog.  Thanks “The Rock”!

As I sit here and wallow in my self-pity, I decided to make some comfort food in the form of a falafel.  Falafel makes me happy.  I love the crunchy outside, the fluffy inside, the full on flavor of the garlic and cilantro, the touch of cumin.  AND I feel like I’m being healthy by eating a vegetarian meal.  They also remind me of a time when my greatest worry was making sure I went to the classes that had mandatory attendance at the University of Tennessee in Knoxvegas.  While I lived there, I ate falafel about three times a week at a place called…get ready for it…Falafel Hut.  Listen, if there’s one thing I know, it’s that you better have some darn good falafel if you have it in your name.  Well, the Hut had some fantastically tasting falafel and that little happy memory just brought me outta my funk (and craving falafels). 

Fluffy falafel.  Ummmmm!

Serve the falafel by themselves, with a Greek salad, or in a pita with tzatziki and/or tahini sauce.  So, if you are looking for an healthy, vegetarian meal then grab your chickpeas and make some Easy Falafel this weekend.

5.0 from 3 reviews

Easy Falafels

 

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Prep time

24 hours 10 mins

Cook time

10 mins

Total time

24 hours 20 mins

 

Author: Tasty Ever After

Serves: 15 falafels

Ingredients

• ½ pound dried chickpeas, thoroughly washed and picked over for small stones. Let soak for 24 hours and drain well before using.
• ¼ cup onion, diced
• ¼ cup plain bread crumbs (I use panko)
• 3 whole fresh cloves garlic
• 1½ tsp ground cumin
• 1¼ tsp kosher salt
• ½ tsp baking powder
• â…“ cup fresh cilantro leaves
• â…“ cup fresh flat leafed Italian parsley
• 1 whole egg
• oil for frying (I use olive oil)
• optional accompaniments: tzatziki sauce, tahini sauce, pickled vegetables, pita bread, and favorite salad fixings (I make a big Greek salad)

Instructions

1. Using a food processor, combine all ingredients, except whole egg, and grind for about 30-40 seconds or until mixture is just evenly chopped up. Add 1 egg and blend again until mixture is finely chopped.
2. Put 2 inches of oil in a 8 or 10 inch cast iron skillet or heavy bottomed fry pan and heat over medium heat until it reaches 360F degrees. Using your hands and a spoon, shape 1-2 tablespoons of the dough into a slightly flattened round circle. Fry in the hot oil until brown on both sides (about 3-4 minutes each side). Drain on a wire rack or paper towels. Serve warm or at room temperature with tzatziki sauce, tahini sauce, pickled vegetables, pita bread, and/or your favorite salad fixings.
3. **Uncooked falafel dough can be stored, in a covered container, in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. Use as needed.
4. Enjoy!

3.3.3077

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