Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Falafel sandwiches with Tabbouleh salad

Both me and Lola love falafel and have made it our goal to try it at as many places as possible, both in San Francisco and in New York. Our favorite in San Francisco is Truly Mediterrean, although we still have many more places to try, including King of Falafel, which, as its awning proudly proclaims, is the winner of the mysterious "Billy Award". Perhaps we will never know what the Billy Award is, but nonetheless I hope our falafel will one day win it.


Both recipes from "Festival of Lite" (ha!) by Gail Ashkenazi-Hankin.
We served our falafel in whole wheat pita with hummus and tabbouleh.
Falafel
Serves 8
*3 cups canned chickpeas (or 1 and 1/4 cup dry chickpeas, soaked overnight)
*2 teaspoons chopped garlic
*1/2 cup bulgar, soaked 10 minutes and drained
*1 small onion, chopped
*1 and 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
* 1 tablespoon ground coriander
*2 tablespoons snipped parsely
*1/4 teasppon cayenne pepper
*3/4 teaspoon salt
*cooking spray
In a food processor, blend all the ingredients except the cooking spray until smooth. Refrigerate 1 hour, until firm. Form into balls, put on a baking pan, spray with cooking spray, and bake at 425 degrees for 20 minutes or until lightly browned.
Tabbouleh
Serves 6
*3/4 cup cracked bulgar wheat
*2 cups boiling water
*2 cups diced tomatoes
*1 small cucumber, peeled and diced
*1/2 cup chopped carrots
*1/2 cup chopped green pepper (we omitted this because Lola doesn't like green peppers)
* 1 cup minced parseley
*1 teaspoon toasted cumin seeds
* 2 tablespoons chopped mint
* 1/4 cup lemon juice
*1 tablespoon olive oil
*1/2 cup minced scallions
Place the bulgar in a large bowl and pour boiling water over it. Let stand for 30 minutes or until the water is absorbed. Squeeze out any excess water and transfer to a serving bowl. Add the cumcumber, tomatoes, carrots, green pepper, parseley, cumin seeds and mint. Combine the lemon juice, oil, and scallions. Toss with the salad. Chill before serving.

-Rita

9 comments:

Emily said...

Falafel is one of my faves, too! I'm sure it's delish with tabbouli in pitas...yum!

mombre said...

MMMMM

Anonymous said...

Girl GREAT minds think alike AGAIN! My post today is for Falafel and Labneh! Yours looks super delicious. I had mine atop salad for dinner last night. Im thinking the pita sand for lunch today :)

Lisa (bakebikeblog) said...

oh my - how good do they look! I love falafel!!

Astra Libris said...

I adore falafel, and yours sounds gorgeous! Thank you so much for visiting my blog - I'm so glad you brought me to visit your beautiful blog!! :-)

Brooke (Baking with Basil) said...

Mmm......I heart falafels! I actually just posted about these myself. Soo good!

Katie ♥ said...

I have never had falafel, lol! I really dont know why, I need to try it!

I hope you got your chocolate fix!! xoxo

Alycia @ Fit n Fresh said...

So I am totally in love with your blogger about me! haha you two are cute (:

And I love - I do mean love - falafels!! I get them in NYC everytime I go, possibly numerous times when I go, but I've only ever gotten them from the street stands. Apparently I'm not smart enough to think to go to a restaurant? ...I'm ashamed

Sarah S. said...

This is my kind of meal fo sho'! Glad to see you girls are still eating well ;)