Falafel Dinner from @MaddieDayAuthor

MADDIE DAY here, with a simple vegetarian dinner.

In sorting through my pantry recently, I discovered not one but two open bags of chickpea flour. Aspirational? Maybe, but I decided to figure out how I could use at least part of one of the bags. I headed off to look up falafel recipes. To my dismay, most included soaking whole, uncooked chickpeas overnight and using only a tablespoon of chickpea flour in the finished falafels the next day.

But then I ran across a recipe that used only chickpea flour, and I went for it! 

We also like to have a couple of non-meat meals each week, and falafels fit the description perfectly.

Chickpea Flour Falafel

Recipe adapted from KibitzSpot.com

Ingredients

1 cup chickpea flour

1/4 cup fresh parsley or cilantro, minced

½ tsp ground cumin

¼ tsp ground coriander

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp baking soda

½ cup hot water

3 tablespoons olive oil

Pita bread

Tomato chunks

Directions

Combine all dry ingredients in a bowl and mix thoroughly. Add herb and hot water and stir until combined.

Let the mixture rest for 10 minutes or longer. 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper and oil lightly.

Drop tablespoon scoops of batter onto the pan and flatten slightly with a spatula. Drizzle olive oil over the tops of all.

Bake for 14 minutes, then turn and bake until golden brown. (Oops, forgot to take that photo.)

Serve with tzatziki sauce, tahini sauce, and pita bread. 

Tzatziki Sauce

Adapted from LoveandLemons.com

Ingredients

½ cup finely grated cucumber

1 cup whole milk yogurt (Greek-style is even better)

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice (lemon not shown in photo)

½ tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

1 garlic clove, grated

¼ teaspoon sea salt

1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill

Directions

Place the cucumber on a towel and gently squeeze out a bit of the excess water.

In a medium bowl, combine the cucumber, yogurt, lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, salt, and dill. 

Chill until ready to use. This sauce is also great as a salad dressing or a dip with raw vegetables or pita chips.

Tahini Sauce

Adapted from Jerusalem by Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi

This is a fabulous cookbook that I rarely use, mostly because I never quite have all the ingredients. I was delighted to find everything for this tahini sauce in the kitchen.

Ingredients

2/3 cup well-stirred tahini

1/2 cup water

2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 medium clove garlic, pressed

1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions

Stir all ingredients until it becomes a thick sauce. 

Add a couple of drops of water if needed. Serve with falafels or other Mideastern foods.

Enjoy!

Readers: Do you enjoy dishes from other areas? 

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Maddie Day (aka Edith Maxwell) is a talented amateur chef and holds a PhD in Linguistics from Indiana University. An Agatha Award-winning and bestselling author, she is a member of Sisters in Crime and Mystery Writers of America and also writes award-winning short crime fiction. She lives with her beau and sweet cat Martin north of Boston, where she’s currently working on her next mystery when she isn’t cooking up something delectable in the kitchen.