Promises ...Promises...

Lets go way back to October.
I bragged quite well about the meal my daughter made me promising to post the recipe.
After taking a couple of months to get it from her and me taking the time to try it on my own.
Here we are.
Finally !


The dinner was Falafel served on Ezekiel Taco Shells with homemade ranch sauce.
The other items were Tex Mex Quinoa Balls .
Yesterday I played around in the kitchen and came up with a little twist to an already amazing recipe.
Its a long story but I found myself wanting Falafel but without the wait time to soak the dry garbanzo beans.
I will list all the original recipes then my new twist for the impatient people like me.

picture of Stephanie & Grand Princess Elle

My daughter Stephanie is great in the kitchen.I love that she is very creative when it comes to food and cares about what she eats and its quality.
Stephanie adapted these recipes from a bunch of resources and came up with her version.


Falafel
Steph's Original

1lb of dry garbanzo beans
1 medium chopped onion
4 garlic cloves
fresh minced cilantro
handful chopped fresh parsley(not flat leaf)
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 lemon (juice from it)
1 tsp aluminum free baking powder
olive oil
salt pepper
canola oil for frying
Prepare beans:
sort and rinse chickpeas (garbanzo beans)
place in large bowl with water to cover them about 1inch above the beans
cover place in frig overnight, shake beans next morning while also making sure beans are still covered with water
never use hot water
drain and rinse beans when ready to make falafel
Saute`
1-2 tsp olive oil
minced garlic
diced onion until tender
add cumin, cayenne, red pepper flakes, salt , pepper
set aside to cool slightly
Combine:
in food processor combine chickpeas,garlic, onions, cilantro, parsley, juice of 1/2 lemon, and baking powder
the texture should be fine and mealy over mixed will be like hummus not enough it will not form a ball
Form:
line a cookie sheet with chlorine free parchment paper
shape into little meatball size
batter will be sticky and you may have to wash hands a few times .
it should resemble the texture of raw meatloaf
when finished place in frig covered for about 2-3 hrs.
Fry:
heat canola oil or light olive oil and place falafel balls in pan not to crowd the pan
4-6 minutes on each side or until golden brown
be gentle as they are fragile
place cooked falafel balls on paper towel to absorb extra oil
repeat until all are cooked
they should be a little crispy on outside while soft on the inside kind of like hush puppies

Ranch Dressing

1/2 cup goat milk yogurt
1/4 cup veganaise (grape seed)
spices are to taste
chopped fresh parsley
oregano
basil
fresh garlic minced and or both garlic powder
salt & pepper

Usually the falafel is stuffed in a pita bread but I eat for blood type O which eliminates the use of mainstream wheat products.So I subbed out that with a Ezekiel(is ok because the gluten lectin is destroyed in the sprouting process) small taco shell that I made crispy by frying it in a little light olive oil.

Place the falafel balls in taco shell add homemade ranch made with goat yogurt /veganaise (grape seed) shredded romaine lettuce or spinach and diced tomatoes you could even have red onion and cilantro
This meal is definitely a treat  and is not super low in calories but its the good fat as they say and its in moderation
This was AMAZING  one of the best things I ever ate. Really !
before /after baking

I was impatient yesterday so I set out to make falafel with out the "dried bean" steps
I was using the canned organic ones
I made them with these ingredients adapted from the Tex Mex Balls which I will post tomorrow

Sandra's Quick Falafel Balls

1 cup cooked and cooled quinoa
1 cup canned garbanzo beans~drained
1 medium onion chopped and saute`with a little olive oil until transculent and lightly brown
*set aside to cool
2 garlic cloves
1 handful chopped fresh parsley
1 handful chopped cilantro
juice from 1/2 a lemon
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp cumin
sea salt to taste
1/2 tsp aluminum free baking powder (I think I will try it with out the baking powder next time & adding flax seed meal ~ apparently it needs a binder )


picture shows three different kinds of quinoa balls
Tex Mex
Pizza (mozz chz on top)
Falafel Quickies(lighter colored ones)

in small food processor
mix onion, garlic, juice from lemon, red pepper flakes, cumin and baking powder until it gets pasty
(like the consistency of tomato paste)
place pasty mix in bowl with garbanzo beans and quinoa
mash together until a meatball like texture that can form a ball and stay together.
place on parchment lined baking sheet
350* 20-30 min.
bake approx. 15 min turn bake another 10 -15 min until golden brown in color and heated through.

That's what I have for today.Tomorrow I will finish this little quinoa project, until then.

Happy Eating
Coach Sandra