Healthy Baked Falafel
Healthy Plant Based Recipe for baked Falafel. Pickled Onions add flavor, color, texture and are so easy to make. Serve individual falafels with tahini dipping sauce as appetizer or in a wrap with condiments and fillings as a main dish.
Servings: 20 Falafel Balls
Calories: 453kcal
Ingredients
- 1 cup parsley
- 1 cup cilantro
- ½ cup raw sunflower seeds
- 1 large shallot roughly chopped
- 5 cloves garlic
- 1 lemon zested and juiced
- 1 Tablespoon cumin
- 1 Tablespoon ground coriander
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper*
- 1 15-oz can chick. peas
- 2 Tablespoons tahini
- ¼ cup almond meal*
- ¼ cup ground flax
Tahini drizzle:
- ¼ cup tahini
- ¼ cup water
- 2 teaspoons maple syrup
pickled onions
- 1 large purple onion thinly sliced
- ½ cup cider vinegar
- ½ cup white vinegar
- ½ cup water
- 2 Tablespoons maple syrup
- ¼ teaspoon salt.
Instructions
Falafel:
- Heat oven to 450 and line rimmed baking pan with unbleached parchment.
- Place parsley, cilantro, sunflower seeds, shallot and garlic info bowl of food processor. Process until everything is well chopped into tiny pieces.
- Zest lemon over processor bowl and sprinkle on cumin, coriander, salt and cayenne. Process again.
- Juice lemon over mixture and add in chickpeas and tahini. Pulse, until mixture is pasty with a few chunks.
- Mix almond meal and ground flax in shallow bowl.
- Scoop falafel mixture onto prepared pan. You should get about 20 falafel. Wet hands and roll into golf ball sized spheres. Drop each into the flax mixture, toss to coat and then place on prepared pan.
- Bake for 15 minutes, turn and then bake for additional 10 minutes until golden.
- Store extra falafel balls in the fridge for up to a week. Leftovers can be eaten cold, or at room temperature. For warm falafel balls, gently heat on stovetop or in 375 oven until heated through.
Tahini Drizzle:
- Whisk together 2 Tablespoons of the water with the maple syrup and tahini. Add more water 1 Tablespoon at a time until pourable consistency.
- Store in fridge for up to 2 weeks. If mixture hardens, set container in a bath of warm water and whisk. Or, whisk in 1 Tablespoon warm water
Pickled Onion
- Thinly slice onions and place in small glass jar.
- Place vinegars, water, syrup and salt in small saucepan. Bring to a boil and then turn down to a simmer. Stir continuously until syrup and salt are totally dissolved.
- Pour over onions that are in jar, making sure they are all submerged. Let sit at room temperature until ready to serve.
- Store sealed jar in fridge for up to 2 weeks.
Notes
PEPPER: I find the ¼ teaspoon cayenne gives just the right amount of spice. If you don't like the heat, substitute with ⅛ teaspoon white pepper or just use a pinch of the cayenne for flavor.
ALMOND MEAL: for nut allergies, dust falafel balls with all ground flax or another mixture you can have.
OPTIONAL WRAPS: pita or butter lettuce or cabbage leaves, collard greens or swiss chard.
OPTIONAL FILLINGS: jalapenos, chopped cucumbers, tomatoes, lemon juice, sliced cabbage, olives, chopped greens, fresh herbs
FALAFEL SALAD PLATE: Serve baked falafel balls with cauliflower hummus, baba ganoush, pickled onions, israeli salad and assorted olives.
Nutrition
Serving: 5falafel balls | Calories: 453kcal | Carbohydrates: 34g | Protein: 15g | Fat: 28g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 23g | Sodium: 605mg | Fiber: 11g | Sugar: 14g