I was having a craving for something fried, but didn’t want to go completely crazy and actually eat something fried. Whew, since fried things taste so bad! Ha!

Falafel is kind of  like a hush puppy, but it’s made with chickpeas instead of cornmeal. The flavors are quite satisfactory and it goes great with Annie’s Goddess Dressing (because it’s full of tasty tahini!).

Ingredients for Falafels:
2 cans no-salt added chickpeas
1 cup chopped fresh parsley
1 medium red onion, roughly chopped
2 tbsp lemon juice
2 tsp cumin
2 tsp fresh garlic
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup brown rice flour (or flour of your choice)
1 tsp salt (or more to taste)
1/2 tsp black pepper (or more to taste)
2 tbsp olive oil
Annie Goddess Salad Dressing

Preheat oven to 380°. Chop parsley, and onions and add to blender. Drain the canned chickpeas well then  add to blender along with lemon juice, cumin, garlic, baking soda, salt, and pepper.

Pulse until everything is paste-like. You will most likely have to stop and scrape down the sides several times as you go. Add a tablespoon of water at a time if it’s getting too hard to mix, but don’t exceed 4 tablespoons.

When everything is fully pureed, remove from blender and place in a bowl to add the flour. When I made mine tonight it was just a little too wet. If it’s too wet, this is when you’ll need to do the flour thing like this. Just mix it in until the balls hold together a little better.

Coat a cookie sheet with 2 tbsp of oil. Scoop out the chickpea mixture and gently shape it into a ball as best you can and place it on the cookie sheet. I think this made like 30 falafels. Brush the top of each little ball with more oil and bake for 15 minutes on each side.

Fattoush-Inspired Salad
1 green bell pepper, roughly chopped
1 yellow bell pepper, roughly chopped
1 red bell pepper, roughly chopped
1/4 cup loosely packed fresh mint leaves
1/4 cup chopped green onion
1 1/2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
Salt to Taste
2 tbsp olive oil

Chop veggies as required, mix together with salt and olive oil.

Serve falafels along with the salad, topped with a generous drizzle of Annie Goddess Dressing. Tahini-licious!!!!