Baked Falafel - Sheila Kealey

Falafel is a popular and delicious Middle Eastern food that is traditionally ball-shaped and deep fried. It is great as a side dish, salad topping, and terrific stuffed in a fresh pita with crunchy vegetables and a yogurt or tahini sauce.

Baking falafel instead of frying them makes them more nutrient-dense (you’ll get more healthful nutrients for every calorie). I really prefer the taste and texture of baked falafel to fried, and they are easier to make too. My recipe has a generous amount of parsley, since this fresh herb adds plenty of flavour and makes these patties even more nutritious. Traditional recipes start out with dried chickpeas and contain baking soda or powder (which I think adversly affects the flavour). Cooked chickpeas are more convenient, and work really well in this recipe.

Ingredients

2 cloves of garlic
2 cups chickpeas (one 19-oz can, drained*)
½ cup coarsely chopped onion
1 cup loosely packed parsley
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. chili powder
Hot sauce (4 shakes, or to taste)
1 tbsp. olive oil
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper
2-3 tbsp. whole wheat or all purpose flour

* US cans are typically 15 oz. – the recipe will work, but adjust the flour quantity as necessary

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 deg F. Grease a cookie sheet with olive oil.
Mince garlic cloves in food processor. Add the remaining ingredients except the flour, and process until roughly blended (but not pureed).
Add just enough flour (1 tablespoon at a time) so that the mixture forms a ball and is not too sticky (add more flour if the mixture is too wet).
Transfer chickpea mixture to a bowl, and shape into 12 patties (about the size and dimensions of large cookies).
Place chickpea patties on the greased pan and cook for about 25 minutes, flipping them at 15 minutes.

Serving Suggestions

A nice way to serve these is in a fresh pita with a variety of toppings. If you lay these out everyone can build their pita sandwich to suit their tastes. You can often find good commercial versions of sauces and toppings, or if you have time, I’ve included recipes to make your own. My favourite toppings include

Tomato-cucumber-feta salad (see recipe, also posted below)
Tomato-basil bruschetta topping (recipe – omit the baguette)
Tatziki, a Greek sauce featuring strained yogurt, cucumbers, garlic, and olive oil. Here is a simple recipe. If you don’t have time to make this, simply mix 1 cup plain Greek yogurt with 1 minced clove of garlic.
Tahini sauce is another popular and flavourful falafel topping (here’s a recipe).

Simple Tomato Cucumber & Feta Salad

1 cups halved grape or cherry tomatoes
1 cup chopped cucumber
¼ cup chopped parsley
1/3 cup crumbled feta cheese

Combine the following ingredients in a bowl. Vary the proportions to suit your taste. This is a terrific combination of flavourful and colourful vegetables that requires no dressing. Stuff in into a pita with falafel, or serve as a side dish for almost any meal. This salad is best eaten the day it’s made.

Nutrition Notes

Chickpeas are a great source of fiber, protein, and B-vitamins. They are also rich in important minerals, including iron, phosphorous, magnesium, manganese, potassium, copper, calcium, and zinc.
Onions contain sulfur compounds that are thought to help cells detoxify potential carcinogens, and are a good source of the dietary flavonoid quercetin, which is associated with reduced chronic inflammation.
Fresh parsley is a good source of vitamin C, and also provides beta-carotene and lutein (another carotenoid) and natural plant compounds (flavonoids and limonene) that may have disease-fighting properties.
Garlic contains many protective compounds that are being studied for their disease-fighting effects.