Baked falafel

One of our favorite places to eat is a  Mediterranean restaurant with a great vegan menu selection. On the menu they have a felafel, which I admit I had never heard of prior to having theirs. Somehow chickpea croquettes don't sound like the most amazing of dishes but boy is it ever good!! Now I know falafel is traditionally fried but I absolutely hate frying food... not necessarily because of the added fat but because to me frying is a huge, wasteful mess. I looked up a few recipes and tweaked them just a bit to come up with my own version. I fork mashed the chickpeas but next time I'll definitely use the food processor just to break up the pieces a bit more... these were great!!

Preheat oven to 350

In a food processor combine:

2 15 oz cans garbanzo beans                                          

   (chickpeas) drained and rinsed 

1 onion

5 or 6 cloves of garlic peeled 

3 tbs fresh cilantro

3 tbs fresh parsley

3 tbs lemon juice

2 tsp lemon juice

2 tsp olive oil

2 tsp cumin

3 tbsp flour

Salt and pepper to taste

Pitas or flatbread

Toppings such as hummus (I made a cilantro jalapeño hummus... I'll post the recipe for that eventually), cucumber, tomato, pickle, tzatziki, avocado or any others you desire.

Pulse until coarsely chopped (leave some texture). Form into 1-2 inch patties. Bake at 350 for 40 minutes, flipping half way through. Serve on warm pitas with desired toppings... delicious!