Baked falafel

Here’s a recipe for Baked Falafel using chickpea (garbanzo) beans. This recipe makes about 16 little pieces.

Ingredients:

1 cup dried chickpeas or 1 15 ounce can chickpeas (garbanzo beans)
1 small onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 tablespoons parsley
1 tablespoon cilantro
1 teaspoon coriander
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 cup panko breadcumbs
Salt and pepper to taste

If using dried chickpeas, there’s some preparation needed – soaking and cooking. Place the 1 cup of dried chickpeas in a bowl and cover it with cold water. Let it soak overnight in the fridge. Drain the chickpeas. In a small pot, add the chickpeas and add 3 cups of water. Bring it to a boil and then reduce the heat to low and let it simmer for an hour. Drain and let it cool. Now you have cooked chickpeas.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Drain and rinse the beans and place inside a mixing bowl.
Mash the chickpeas with a fork.
Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well.
Form into small balls, about 1 1/2? in diameter and slightly flatten.
Place onto an oiled baking pan.
Bake for 15 minutes on each side, until nicely browned.

These baked falafels were very easy to make and tasted great. The baked falafels can be served in a pita with tomatoes, lettuce, cucumbers and yummy sauces. I also like to add them to salads.

Feel free to adjust the herbs and spices to fit your tastes. I’m a big fan of garlic and spicy. The paprika gave it a neat kick. The baked falafels are crunchy on the outside from the panko crumbs and full of flavor in the inside. I’m thinking of adding some hot sauce in the mixture instead of paprika the next time. I still have some dried chickpeas sitting around.

The baked falafels would be great topped with some of that cucumber yogurt sauce. I will have to find a nice recipe for tzatziki yogurt sauce. I think there’s greek yogurt, cucumber, fresh dill, and a few other things?