Baked Falafel

When I discovered my love for Mediterranean food during my teenage years, I went to a restaurant and saw that they had a falafel gyro on the menu. I knew it was a Mediterranean dish but I had no clue what to expect. When it came out to the table and I tried it, I was HOOKED! Falafel is a chickpea patty that is traditionally fried. While I do love them fried, I've found that when I make them at home, I prefer them baked. (we'll leave the frying to the professionals) These are the best when wrapped in a warm pita and topped with cucumber, tomato, feta cheese, onions, lettuce, olives, and tzatziki. This vegetarian dish can also easily be made vegan depending on what you serve with it .

Author: Sarah Davis

Prep Time: 20-25 minutes

Cook Time: 25-30 minutes

Servings: 4

Keywords: falafel, dinner, vegetarian, vegan

Ingredients:

For the falafel:

• 1 can of chickpeas drained and rinsed
• 4 cloves of garlic
• 1 small onion, quartered
• 1 handful of Italian Parsley
• 1-2 handfuls of spinach
• Juice of 1/2 a lemon
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• splash of water
• 1/4 teaspoon cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs
• 1/2 cup regular breadcrumbs
• 1/2 cup flour

For the toppings:

• Pita (to put your falafel on)
• Cucumber
• Red onion
• Tomato
• Tzatziki or hummus
• Chopped Lettuce
• Kalamata Olives
• Feta Cheese

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 F.

2. Add all ingredients except breadcrumbs and flour to a blender. Blend it up, but make sure that you can still see some chunks. You want these to have some texture.

3. Transfer this mixture from the blender into a large bowl. Add the breadcrumbs and flour in batches ,1/2 a cup at a time and stir with a spatula until incorporated.

4. Take 2 tablespoons of the mixture and roll into a ball. *if you can't shape into a ball, add more four or breadcrumb* Place on a lightly greased baking sheet and press down slightly. Continue until all of the dough has been used.

5. Bake at 425 for 12 minutes then flip. Place pan back in oven and bake for another 12 minutes or until both sides are golden brown.

6. Enjoy on a pita with your favorite toppings.

Notes:

1. If you don't feel like shaping all of those little patties, sometimes I take about 1/4 cup of the mixture and shape into "burgers".

2. Check out my Greek Salad post to see another option for serving