Saturday, September 27, 2008

It's a falafel kind of night.

I constructed a little "falafel bar" for Dan and I for dinner tonight:
example
Cucumber, tomato, lettuce, red onion, feta, and olives, and
example
falafel patties, tahini-yogurt sauce, and homemade pita!!

Why is it that homemade bread seems to be the one thing that really makes a meal??? These pita were AWESOME! I used a recipe from Fine Cooking magazine. The recipe was somewhat complicated in written form, but executed simply enough. It's available online, but you have to subscribe to Fine Cooking in order to view it. Gah!

I experimented with the falafel a bit, using chickpea flour this time instead of mashed cooked chickpeas. They turned out pretty tasty, and very easy! Definitely held together the best of any falafel I've ever made. I mixed together 1 1/2 cups chickpea flour, 1 1/2 teaspoons cumin, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, 2 cloves garlic grated on my Microplane, and 1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro. I then added enough water (between 3 and 3 1/2 ounces) to make a thick paste. Shape, panfry, and voila! Quicker falafel than I've ever made!

The tahini sauce is really easy, too -- whisk together 1/2 cup plain yogurt, 2 tablespoons lemon juice, 2 tablespoons tahini, and 1 clove garlic grated on the Microplane until smooth.

Happy Falafel Night!

5 comments:

LizNoVeggieGirl said...

Falafel + homemade bread (and making everything else from scratch as well) = perfect meal.

By the way, I will be at my dance showcase ALL DAY today, so I will probably not be able to comment on your next post - I apologize in advance!!

cedrorum said...

Ironically, we are making the same thing today. Looks good.

TNL said...

That is so delicious! I love tahini-yogurt sauce with Falafels along with some sriracha sauce on the side. It certainly hits the spot. :)

cheers, ts
the spice who loved me

aTxVegn said...

We had a falafel dinner not long ago, but it wasn't all homemade like yours. Those pitas look fantastic!

Anonymous said...

This is most awesome - an idea I will use. I love falafel!