falafel.

if there's one thing you should know about me it's that i am hopelessly in love with falafel.

my love relationship with falafel started on a rainy summer night when we were house sitting. we didn't come prepared with food of our own, so around 8 o'clock (late dining) we slapped on our rain boots and headed to the grocery store. we were planning to get just enough for dinner--preferably in the frozen foods section, due to the hour. i scooted my way over to the frozen vegetarian shelves...veggie burgers, pizza, frozen dinners...boring. and then (cue the angelic chorus) i saw it... falafel. "hmm," i thought, "i've never tried this before." so i bought it, tried it, and ate the entire box.

sadly, i wasn't able to find falafel in the grocery store again. so, i researched falafel online and started making my own recipe.

finally, over a year later at another store, i found the exact falafel product i had met on that rainy night. so i bought it, took it home, and unwrapped it like it was christmas morning... and then...

 ...i was disappointed

what i had been making at home was so much better than the processed, boxed version in the frozen foods section. aren't most things?

and so all that to say...here's to homemade falafel, the best there is out there...

homemade baked falafel

ingredients:

• 1 15 oz. can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
• 2 cups chopped cauliflower (preferably chopped with a food processor)
• 1/2 white onion, chopped
• 1 tbsp. dried parsley
• 1 tsp. cumin
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. pepper
• 1 egg
• 2 cloves garlic
• juice from one lemon
• 1/4 tsp. garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp. onion powder
• 1/2 cup gluten-free all purpose flour

preheat oven to 400 F. clean, chop and place the cauliflower in a food processor. process until you get a rice consistency. transfer to a bowl. next, place the garbanzo beans in the food processor and process until smooth. add the onion, garlic, parsley, cumin, salt, pepper, egg, lemon, garlic powder, and onion powder to the food processor (all the ingredients but the flour). process until well mixed. transfer the mixture to the bowl with the cauliflower and mix fully together with a spoon. next, add the flour to give it a thicker consistency. if you like your dough thicker, you can add more flour.

i used gluten free, but you can certainly use whole wheat flour or even breadcrumbs.

using a cookie scoop, scoop the dough out into balls and transfer to a prepared cookie sheet. bake in the oven for 30 minutes, flipping halfway through. remove, let cool, and serve over vegetables or with tahini sauce (available at trader joe's / whole foods). 

hope you enjoy these guys as much as i do!