easy oven-baked falafel

One of my worst “bad wife” moments revolves around falafel. Let me set the scene.

Me, pregnant and cranky and tired and not interested in cooking. My husband, a wonderful, caring, selfless person who decided to bless me by making falafel from scratch. Like, fried and everything. 

iklan tengah

I came home from work and arrived to find the kitchen covered in falafel happenings. Let me repeat – I was pregnant and cranky, but that is still no excuse for me to get all up in his space and inspect the recipes he was using, and taste the falafel and declare that they would be better if he hadn’t used canned chickpeas. I mean, FOR REAL? It still pains me to think about what a jerk I was, pregnant or not. Oh, the shame…

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup dried chickpeas (soaked in 4 cups water overnight (see Notes for quick-soak method))
• 1 medium red onion (chopped)
• 1 cup fresh parsley (chopped (or a mix of parsley and cilantro))
• 3 cloves garlic (peeled and roughly chopped)
• 1 lemon (juiced)
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon salt
• pinch of cayenne pepper ((or more to taste))
• Oil cooking spray (optional)

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 400F.
2. Rinse and drain soaked chickpeas.
3. Add chickpeas to the bowl of a food processor and pulse until coarse.
4. Add onion, garlic, parsley, lemon juice, and spices.
5. Pulse mixture until In a food processor until finely ground and no large pieces remain.
6. If your food processor is struggling to process all of the ingredients at once, do it in two batches and then combine the batter before baking.
7. Using a small cookie scoop or disher, portion approximately 2 tablespoons of batter onto a parchment-lined baking sheet.
8. If desired, spray tops of falafel balls with oil cooking spray for more even browning (but it is not necessary at all).
9. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown and cooked throughout.
10. Enjoy with in a lettuce wrap or pita with hummus and tahini sauce, or any other way you like to eat falafel!

Recipe Adapted From passtheplants.com

NOTES

Quick-soak instructions for chickpeas, stovetop: Add 1 cup dried chickpeas to a 4-quart or larger pan, and cover them with water by at least 3 inches. Bring a to boil, then simmer for 5 minutes. Let sit for one hour before rinsing, draining, and proceeding with the recipe.

Quick-soak instructions for chickpeas, Instant Pot/pressure cooker: Add 1 cup dried chickpeas to the pressure cooker, and cover them with water by at least 3 inches. Bring to high pressure for 1 minute, and allow the pressure to release naturally. Drain, rinse, and proceed with recipe.