Falafel is such a delicious treat! We’ve developed a BAKED Falafel recipe that is guilt and gluten-free. Chia seeds are the secret of this recipe. They hold all the ingredients together without the use of any flour, eggs or other ingredients. It’s magic!
Serves 8-10
Ingredients
For Falafel:- 3/4 cup chia seeds
- 2-1/4 cups water
- 1/2 cup raw pistachios
- 1/2 cup raw almonds
- 1/2 cup ground raw flax seeds
- 1/2 cup sunflower seeds
- 1/2 cup sesame seeds
- 2 carrots, roughly chopped
- 1/2 onion, finely chopped
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tbsp parsley, finely chopped
- 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
- juice of 1 lemon
- 1 tbsp cumin
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2 cucumbers, peeled and chopped
- 3 heads of Boston Bibb or Butter lettuce, washed and dried
- 3 large heirloom tomatoes, finely chopped
- 1 large red onion, finely chopped
- 2 cups coconut yogurt
- fresh dill
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
Make the Falafel:- Pour 2-1/4 cups water over 3/4 cup chia seeds in a bowl, stir well and refrigerate for 10-15 minutes until chia absorbs the water and expands
- In a food processor, pulse the almonds and pistachios into very small bits (you want to ensure the pieces are about as small or smaller than the whole sunflower and sesame seeds so they don't fall out once you combine them into the Falafel mixture)
- Empty the food processor and add in the carrots. Pulse until carrot pieces are very small
- In a large bowl, combine the soaked chia seeds with the ground flax seeds, pulsed nuts, pulsed carrots, whole sunflower seeds and the rest of the ingredients
- Give the mixture a taste to ensure it's seasoned to your liking
- Let the mixture sit in the refrigerator for 1 hour to overnight to give the ingredients time to solidify for easy shaping of the Falafel balls
- Once mixture is firm, make ping pong sized Falafel balls (we use a small cookie dough scoop) and bake on a parchment lined cookie sheet at 300 degrees for 1 hour.
TIP: You can form the Falafel balls ahead, freeze them and bake them later. Freeze the balls on a cookie sheet and then store them in zip-top bags in the freezer. To cook, bake straight from the freezer for about 1 hour, 10 minutes.
Make the Coconut Yogurt Dipping Sauce:
Ingredients:
- 2 cups coconut yogurt (suggest a coconut yogurt with a thick consistency)
- a handful of fresh dill, finely chopped
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions:
Simply combine the ingredients and adjust seasoning as needed
Plating:
Serve about 3 Falafel per person in a lettuce cup with fresh chopped cucumber, red onion and tomatoes (lightly salted) and topped with a dollop of the Coconut Yogurt Dipping Sauce.
I wish there were utritional values for your recipes.