These baked falafels are perfectly crunchy on the outside and fluffy on the inside. Served with fresh cucumber, eggplant and of course sauces!
This Week
2 Dec - 8 Dec
Baked Falafels with Smashed Cucumber, Garlic Yoghurt Sauce and Eggplant
- Under 1 hour
- 4
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Meal Prep Guide
Prepare your falafels mix. Store in an airtight container in the fridge.
Ingredients
- 1 can chickpeas (drained, rinsed and patted dry)
- 1 small brown onion
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1 cup green peas (defrosted, patted dry)
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 1 lemon (zest)
- 1 cup fresh parsley (loosely packed)
- 1 cup fresh coriander (loosely packed)
- 1 Tbsp sesame seeds (toasted)
- ¼ cup flour
- Salt and pepper
Method
- To make the falafels add chickpeas to a blender, nutribullet or food processor, blend until the texture is chunkier than a fine crumb. Place into a large bowl.
- Add onion and garlic to the blender, blend until paste like. Add green peas, ground cumin, ground coriander, cumin seeds, lemon and fresh herbs; blend until well combined. (If you are blending in a nutribullet you will need to be patient and may need to stir and shake intermittently to make sure all the ingredients are blended together)
- Add the herb and pea mix to the chickpeas, add flour and sesame seeds; mix well to fully combine all the ingredients. Roll into 20 small falafels just before you cook them.
Prepare the dressing for the cucumber. Store in an airtight jar or container in the fridge.
Ingredients
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp honey
- 1 tsp dijon mustard
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 Tbsp rice wine vinegar
Method
- Add all the ingredients to a jar, shake well.
Prepare the garlic yoghurt sauce for the cucumber. Store in an airtight jar or container in the fridge.
Ingredients
- ⅓ cup greek yoghurt
- 2 tsp rice wine vinegar
- 1 small garlic clove (crushed)
Method
- Add all the ingredients to a jar or container, mix well. Bring to room temperature before serving.
Tips
Tips
- It can be difficult to achieve the perfect texture when making falafels, not too dry but also not too moist. That’s why it’s important to make sure you pat the chickpeas and peas dry before blending.
- Blending the chickpeas first and adding sesame seeds, gives a variety of textures and avoids a ‘paste’ like mixture.
- We like to break our falafels in half before putting them into our flatbreads, so every mouthful gets a bit of everything.
Shortcuts
Vegetables
- Swap cos for slaw.
- Swap roasted eggplant for cauliflower.
- Omit the flatbread and make it into a salad using two heads or 1 full bag of cos.
Protein
- If you are short on time you can buy falafels.
- Swap falafels for our oregano chicken.
Other
- Add sauerkraut or other pickled vegetables.
Ingredients
Eggplant
- 1 large eggplant (cut into rounds 1cm thick)
- Olive oil
- Salt
Falafels
- 400g tin of chickpeas (drained, rinsed and patted dry)
- 1 small brown onion
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1 cup green peas (defrosted, patted dry)
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 1 lemon (zest)
- 1 cup fresh parsley (loosely packed)
- 1 cup fresh coriander (loosely packed)
- 1 Tbsp sesame seeds (toasted)
- ¼ cup flour
- Salt and pepper
Smashed cucumber salad
- 1/2 cucumber
- Pinch of salt
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp honey
- 1 tsp dijon mustard
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 lemon (juice)
- 1 Tbsp pine nut (toasted)
- 1 Tbsp mint (finely chopped)
- 1/3 cup greek yoghurt
- Juice of one lemon
- 1 small garlic clove (crushed)
- 1 head baby cos
- 4-6 large flatbreads or 1 batch of our homemade flatbreads
Optional Tahini sauce
- 2 Tbsp Tahini
- 2 Tbsp water
- Salt
Method
- Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celsius, fan bake.
- Place eggplant on a large tray, drizzle generously with olive oil and season with salt, roast for 30 minutes, flipping halfway. The eggplant will be cooked before the falafels. Set aside, with the option to heat up right before serving.
- To make the falafels add the chickpeas to a blender, nutribullet or food processor, blend until the texture is chunkier than a fine crumb. Place into a large bowl.
- Add the onion and garlic to the blender, blend until a paste forms. Add the green peas, ground cumin, ground coriander, cumin seeds, lemon and fresh herbs; blend until combined. (If you are blending in a nutribullet you will need to be patient and may need to stir and shake intermittently to make sure all the ingredients are blended together).
- Add the herb and pea mix to the chickpeas, add the flour and sesame seeds, mix well to fully combine all of the ingredients. Using a spoon and your hands, form approximately 20 small falafels. Place on a large tray and into the oven for 30 minutes, rotating halfway. Falafels should be golden and crisp on the outside when cooked.
- While the falafels are cooking, prepare the smashed cucumbers, start by adding the cucumber to a bowl or colander and sprinkle with salt; allow it to sit for around 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, rinse the salt off the cucumber and drain the excess water.
- In the meantime make the cucumber dressing and yogurt sauce. In a medium bowl add olive oil, rice vinegar, honey, dijon mustard and cumin. Add the cucumber and marinate in the dressing until ready to serve.
- In a small bowl mix togehter the yoghurt, lemon juice and garlic.
- Assemble the smashed cucumber salad. Firstly spread the yoghurt onto a plate, top with cucumber (excess dressing removed and reserved for cos), then add the pine nuts and mint.
- Use the excess dressing to dress the cos leaves.
- Optional tahini sauce, add all the ingredients to a small bowl and mix until fully incorporated.
- Build your flatbread or salad and enjoy!
Variations
Vegetables
- Swap cos for slaw.
- Swap roasted eggplant for cauliflower.
- Omit the flatbread and make it into a salad using two heads or 1 full bag of cos.
Protein
- If you are short on time you can buy falafels.
- Swap falafels for our oregano chicken.
Other
- Add sauerkraut or other pickled vegetables.
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