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? 

Scone Cold Dead is out and available wherever books are sold.

Next out, on August 26, will be Murder at Cape Costumers!

My most recent releases are Deadly Crush, 

 Murder at the Rusty Anchor,

 A Case for the Ladies,

and Deep Fried Death, #12 in the Country Store Mysteries.

Check out all my writing.

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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.

Grilled Chicken Gyros with Tzatziki Sauce #Recipe Peg Cochran/Margaret Loudon

If you're looking for a light summer dish that can be made on a grill and won't heat up your kitchen, these chicken gyros fit the bill!  If you don't have a grill, or you're reading this while there is snow on the ground, you can also cook the chicken indoors on a grill pan.  Either way, it's delicious.  It's perfect for gardeners who are just harvesting their crop of tomatoes and cucumbers. Recipe adapted from Joy Bauer.

For the chicken

3/4 cup red wine vinegar

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 tablespoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

kosher salt, to taste

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts boneless, skinless chicken breasts

 

For the tzatziki sauce

1/2 cup cucumber (not English), shredded

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 cup plain 2%, non-fat or whole milk Greek yogurt

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1/2 tablespoon red wine vinegar

1 teaspoon olive oil

1 clove garlic, minced

1 tablespoon fresh dill, chopped or 1 tsp. dried dill

 

To Serve:

Pita bread

Sliced tomato or halved cherry tomatoes

Romaine lettuce, chopped

Red onion, sliced

½ cup crumbled feta cheese

Prepare chicken:

Slice chicken breast in half horizontally to make two thin pieces.  Cover with plastic wrap and pound to approximately 1/4 inch thickness. 

 

Place red wine vinegar, fresh lemon juice, dried oregano, ground black pepper, kosher salt, to taste in a zip lock baggie.  Add chicken and marinate for 10 to 30 minutes.

 

Oil and heat a grill pan or heat a gas grill to 400 degrees.  Grill chicken for approximately 4 minutes per side.  Let rest 5 minutes. 

Prepare sauce:

Shred cucumber on a box grater, place in a sieve and allow to sit for 5 minutes.

Combine remaining ingredients in a bowl and mix.

Add shredded, drained cucumber and stir again.

To serve:

Slice chicken into thin strips.  Warm pitas if desired and serve with prepared veggies and sauce. 

 

 It's Here!

Cover reveal!  A Berry Suspicious Death is now up for pre-order!

Coming August 20

    AMAZON

BARNES & NOBLE    

 

Weddings are murder in the new Cranberry Cove Mystery from USA Today bestselling author Peg Cochran!

The cranberry bogs at Sassamanash Farms have never looked more festive than when Monica’s half-brother celebrates his wedding there. It’s a genuinely joyous occasion, and even greeting a strange assortment of guests and witnessing a heated argument can’t spoil Monica’s mood. But that all changes when one of the guests is found murdered at the reception—and then one of Monica’s employees is accused of doing the deed to get his hands on the dead woman’s money.

It doesn’t take long for Monica to discover that the victim had amassed her fortune by marrying a very wealthy—and very ill—older man. What’s more, the old man’s daughters despised the scheming, gold-digging woman, and thought the inheritance money should have been theirs. That seems like motive enough for murder, but Monica suspects there’s more to this case than simple greed. With her employee in hot water and time running out, Monica will have to act fast to catch the killer, before a case that started with a family wedding ends with her own funeral . ..

 

AMAZON

                BARNES & NOBLE

 

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Greek Turkey Burgers with Tzatziki Sauce #Recipe @PegCochran

Here is another low calorie/low WW points recipe for you (are you sick of them yet?)  But we all need a light meal occasionally, right?  Then you are at liberty to enjoy a delicious fruit tart or piece of cake or bowl of ice cream for dessert (lots of great dessert recipes here on MLK!)

We eat a lot of turkey burgers since we try to keep red meat to once a week and that's usually a steak on Saturday nights.  I am always happy to find a way to "jazz" them up a bit and this recipe fits the bill.  I don't think there's much of anything authentically Greek about it except the tzatziki sauce! (Do they have turkeys in Greece?)

This recipe is adapted quite a bit from one I found online.  It's quick, easy and very tasty!

Burgers:

1 lb. lean ground turkey breast

 1 small zucchini, shredded

½ small onion, minced

1 TBS chopped cilantro

1 tsp. Greek seasoning (or seasoning of your choice)

 1 tsp. vegetable or olive oil

Tzatziki Sauce:

1 cup plain lowfat Greek yogurt

^1/2 cucumber, peeled and grated finely diced or sliced seeded peeled cucumber

1 garlic clove, minced

½ tsp. salt or to taste

Combine turkey, shredded zucchini, minced onion, cilantro, and Greek seasoning.     

Shredded zucchini in food processor

Found in most supermarkets

Form into four large patties or several smaller ones.

Heat a grill to medium high and cook burgers approximately five minutes per side, depending on size and thickness.  Or, spray a nonstick pan with cooking spray and cook five to six minutes per side.

Mix yogurt, cucumber, garlic clove and salt and let sit while grill heats and burgers cooks.  The longer it sits the better the flavor so it can be made ahead and kept in the refrigerator.

 

Serve with toasted pita bread if desired and tzatziki sauce and lettuce and tomatoes in the pita or on the side with dressing.

Amazon Reviewer:  "Peg Cochran creates engaging characters and a wonderful sense of time and place. The mystery is well plotted and full of twists. There’s a little bit of humor, a splash of romance, and great historical details."

AMAZON

BARNES & NOBLE

An intrepid 1930s Manhattan socialite uncovers deadly secrets during an assignment to the Hamptons in this riveting historical cozy mystery for readers of Victoria Thompson, Anne Perry, and Rhys Bowen.

Westhampton, 1938. To the dismay of her well-to-do family, Elizabeth “Biz” Adams is quickly establishing herself as a seasoned photographer over at the Daily Trumpet. Growing more confident in her decision to pursue a career, Elizabeth is thrilled when she and her reporter sidekick, Ralph Kaminsky, are sent to Long Island to cover the story of a young maid found dead in one of the glamourous summer homes in the devastating aftermath of the Great New England Hurricane—also known as the Long Island Express.

At first it’s assumed that the young woman was caught in the terrible storm, but when a suspicious wound is found on the side of her head, the police suspect murder. The maid’s death becomes even more tragic when it’s discovered she was pregnant, and with Elizabeth and Kaminsky at the scene of the crime, the Daily Trumpet scoops all the other papers in town.

The young woman’s boyfriend emerges as the likeliest suspect. But as Elizabeth follows the story, she begins to wonder whether someone in the household of the maid’s employers might be responsible—someone who’ll stop at nothing to keep the truth about the baby’s paternity hidden.

COMING DECEMBER 3