Baked Falafel

Have you seen The Help?? It is SUCH  a GREAT movie! I really recommend seeing it. I’ve seen it twice and I want to go again.

Anyways, last night Matthew and I went to see The Help and because he got off work late and I had a lot going on yesterday, we ended eating this delicious baked falafel in about 5 minutes in the car on the way to the movie. We scarfed it down and I’m sure smelled up the movie theater, but it was tasty tasty!

I don’t know if this picture looks appetizing. In fact, I kinda think it doesn’t…so you’ll just have to trust me. This is delicious. And yet another successful vegetarian meal for my meat eating husband!

I’ve always loved falafel, but most falafel is fried. I adapted this baked version from this recipe. However, the spices they used tasted a little too Indian for me (not a fan), so I toned it down a little.

The combo of the baked falafel, warm pita bread, and tangy feta is just lovely. And I do recommend actually sitting down and enjoying at your kitchen table rather than spilling down the front of your shirt on the way to see a movie.

Ingredients:

2 cans of garbanzo beans

1 tablespoon of flour

2 tablespoon of garlic bread crumbs

2 teaspoons cumin

1/2 teaspoon salt

4 tablespoons olive oil

1 medium tomato, diced

1/2 cup of onion, diced

1/2 cup of crumbled feta

2 cloves of garlic, minced

juice of 1 lemon

2 tablespoons of chopped basil

4 pita bread rounds, or flat bread rounds.

To make: 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Drain and rinse garbanzo beans. Combine garbanzo beans, flour, bread crumbs, salt, cumin, and one teaspoon of olive oil in food processor until well combined. Roll mixture into 12 little balls (looks like cookie dough) and place on a greased baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes.

In a bowl, combine remaining olive oil, tomato, onion, crumbled feta, garlic, lemon, and basil. Salt to taste.

Warm pita in microwave for 20 seconds. Put each pita round on a small square of foil. Spread some of the feta mixture on each pita round, put three falafel on each pita, wrap up in foil. Eat like a burrito!

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