Baked Felafels

I have been dying to make these since we have been home. They are usually fried, but of course I had to find an alternative. :) I tried baking them, and they turned out okay.

They kind of fell apart, maybe a little more oil next time, but they still tasted just as good once they were stuffed into a pita!

Felafels are mostly made of Chickpeas - a power food! Full of good fats, fiber, and protein! So nix the frying and you really have a healthy meal!

YUM!!!

Felafel:

1 (15 oz.) can of Chickpeas

1/4 C minced Onion

2 Cloves Garlic, minced

2 tsp ground Cumin

1/2 tsp Ground Coriander

1/2 tsp Salt

1/4 C Cilantro Leaves

1/4 C Parsley Leaves

2 Tbl Olive Oil

Tahini Sauce:

1/2 C Pure Tahini Paste (ground sesame seeds, found at any health market by the peanut butter) sesame seeds have calcium and iron!

3 Tbl of Lemon Juice (I did a tiny bit less)

3-4 Tbl of water, or more depending on desired consistency

I added some garlic powder and a touch of salt

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425. Combine all felafel ingredients except 1 tbl of Oil in food processor. Process or pulse until combined. You may have to scrape the bowl and stir a little. Its thick, but all ingredients should be well incorporated. Form mixture into 16 balls and place on greased cookie sheet.

Spray or brush remaining Olive Oil over balls. Bake 20 minutes, turn and bake an additional 20 minutes, until crisp and brown.

Warm Whole Wheat pita's, spread with some Tahini Sauce. Place a little lettuce, then balls, then stuff with cucumbers and I did tomato as well. Slightly smash down to combine ingredients and make it easier to eat.

ENJOY!

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I'm Back!

So I just went on an amazing trip to Israel. The experience was phenomenal! I LOVED the food! I learned so much about how the Israeli's cook and eat. The biggest thing I learned is how fresh everything was. EVERY meal came with manysmall salads. And fruit was served for dessert. (although the bad stuff could still be found in the bakeries - oh it was evil, but so amazing at the same time! :) )

Most of them eat Kosher, so they rarely combine meat and diary. This makes many mealshigh in fruits and veggies - which I love! They eat many beans and legumes to get the protein they otherwise wouldn't have.

It was rare to find processed crap (sorry for the language :)) anywhere. No granola bars, crackers, or energy bars, just plain goodness. The markets were fully stocked with assorted nuts and dried fruits. I am becoming a big believer of just fresh eating.

It gave me a lot of inspiration to try to minimize processed anything in my diet.

So here is a slide show of my amazing food experience!

And stay tuned for some yummy, Israeli inspired Healthy Attempts! :)

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