Crispy Baked Falafel

We’ve boarded the “Meatless Monday” train, except it’s more like “Meatless Random Day of the Week”.  My challenge with making meatless dinners is finding a delicious, unprocessed, AND filling protein.  I love falafels and was pumped to find the recipe on Cookie and Kate for a baked version – healthier than deep frying and also in theory means less mess!

This recipe makes about twelve 2-inch falafel patties – maybe enough for two hungry people.  I would recommend doubling this recipe though because they hold up well the next day.  Throw them in a pita, on a salad, or eat them as is with a little tahini sauce.  I served it on a quinoa salad that I winged – cold quinoa with chopped cucumber, bell pepper, tomatoes, and green onion, tossed in a DIY dressing of EVOO, lemon juice, minced garlic, and a splash of red wine vinegar.  In hindsight, I should have made a faux quinoa tabbouleh salad instead. An idea for next time!

INGREDIENTS:

• 1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 cup dried (uncooked/raw) chickpeas, rinsed, picked over and soaked for at least 4 hours and up to 24 hours in the refrigerator  (I soaked the chickpeas for 5 hours and it was totally fine)
• 1/2 cup roughly chopped red onion (about 1/2 small red onion)
• 1/2 cup packed fresh parsley (mostly leaves but small stems are ok)
• 1/2 cup packed fresh cilantro (mostly leaves but small stems are ok)
• 4 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
• 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

DIRECTIONS:

1. With an oven rack in the middle position, preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Pour 1/4 cup olive oil into a large, rimmed baking sheet and turn until the pan is evenly coated.
2. In a food processor, combine the soaked and drained chickpeas, onion, parsley, cilantro, garlic, salt, pepper, cumin, cinnamon, and the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Process until smooth, about 1 minute. Don’t pulse the mixture in the food processor – just let it run for the full minute.  Everything incorporates better and you won’t get big chunks of chickpea that you can’t seem to pulverize.
3. Scoop out about 2 tablespoons of the mixture at a time. Shape the falafel into small patties, about 2 inches wide and ½ inch thick. Place each falafel on your oiled pan.
4. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, carefully flipping the falafels halfway through baking, until they are deeply golden on both sides.

NOTES:

• MAKE-AHEAD OPTION: I prepped the mixture ahead of time and left it in the refrigerator for a few hours before it was time to bake.  I suspect you could probably leave the mixture covered it in the fridge overnight and it would be fine!
• HOW TO DOUBLE THIS RECIPE: Preheat the oven with two oven racks near the center of the oven. Double all of the ingredients. If you have a large food processor (guessing 11+ cup capacity), you can mix all of the ingredients at once. Use two baking sheets, and swap their positions (top to bottom, bottom to top) when you flip the falafel halfway through baking.