Wednesday, December 9, 2009

I am the International Bitch

I think I was Greek and Italian in another life. I love Greek and Italian cuisine and really try to make it at home as often as possible.

Falafel

1 can of garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 onion, coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons panko or whole wheat bread crumbs
2 tbsps chickpea (garbanzo) flour
2 tbsps coursely chopped italian parsley
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/4 tsp pepper
4 cloves garlic
1/2 tsp fine sea salt
about 2 tbsps refined coconut oil melted
1 lemon
6 tbsps tahini
1/4 cup water
3 tbsps extra virgin olive oil
1/4 tsp paprika
6 pita breads (I use whole wheat because it is healthier but grab what you want)
1/4 head inceberg, romaine, green leaf, or red leaf lettuce, coarsely shredded (I actually use spinach cause I need dark green and more nutritional value than others)
1/2 cucumber, cut into 1/4 inch slices
12 - 18 slices dill pickles (I did not use pickles because it is just so yucky It was yummy w/o)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
in a food processor (if you don't have one go get one or ask for one on craigslist or freecycle) combine the garbanzo beans, onion, panko, flour, parsley, cumin, coriander, pepper, 2 cloves of the garlic, and 1/2 tsp of the salt. Pulse, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary, to form a course paste. shape the paste into 12 golf ball sized rounds. flatten the balls to about 3/4 inch thick and transfer to a rimmed baking sheet. brush both sides of each ball with the coconut oil and bake for 45 minutes, turning halfway through, until nicely browned. set aside to cool. meanwhile, juice the lemon. in a small bowl, whisk together the tahini, water, olive oil, paprika, lemon juice, and 1/4 tsp salt (if using unsalted tahini). press or finely mince the remaining 2 cloves of garlic and whisk into the tahini sauce. set aside until ready to serve or refrigerate for up to a week. to assemble the sandwiches, cut about 1 inch off the top of each pita, forming a pocket. add falafel, spinach or lettuce, tomato, cucumber, and pickle, dividing evenly. drizzle each sandwich with about a tbsp of tahini.

It is so delicious. I even assembled one for lunch today. You can make your own hummus and add on to it. Better to make your own because after having my homemade hummus, the store brought kind isn't so good.

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