Day 142.
Last weekend I went through the pantry and put like items together. Since I had helpers, it took a really long time, and it sort of looks the same way it did when I started, but I now have a pretty good idea of our inventory.
We have a surplus of garbanzo beans.
So I made falafels.
In the crockpot.
I've never made falafels before, but figured if it didn't work out, at least I'd have a nice story to tell.
But it worked! I am ecstatic to have a new meal to put in our repertoire--a light and healthy dinner to have on a warm evening.
The Ingredients.
I pretty much followed the recipe I found for Sean's Falafels on Allrecipes. - 1 15oz can garbanzo beans (chick peas)
- 1/2 onion, chopped
-1 T dried parsley
- 2 cloves minced garlic
- 1 egg
- 1 t kosher salt
- 1/4 t black pepper
- 2 t ground cumin
- 1 t ground coriander
- 1/4 t cayenne pepper
- juice from 1 lemon (that's a lemon. a weird looking lemon, but a lemon nonetheless)
- 1/2 to 3/4 cup bread crumbs (I have bread crumbs made from a loaf of Trader Joe's brown rice bread that I keep in the freezer)
- 2 T olive oil (for the bottom of your crock)
The Directions.
Take a deep breath. It looks like there are a lot of ingredients, but this comes together awfully quick. I seriously only spent 25 minutes from start to finish. The hardest part was getting all the spice bottles arranged for the photo.
Drain garbanzo beans. Dump them into a mixing bowl and smash them with a fork. Set aside.
Get out your blender or food processor (I used our vitamix. I love that thing!). Blend together all of the spices, the onion, the garlic, the egg, and the lemon juice.
Pour on top of your smashed garbanzo beans. Use your fork to mix together, and add the breadcrumbs slowly until the mixture is wet and sticky but can be formed into balls nicely. I needed 3/4 of a cup of breadcrumbs.
Pour 2 T of olive oil into the bottom of your crockpot stoneware insert.
Form squished golf-ball sized patties of falafel. Dip each side into the olive oil and then nestle into your crockpot. It's okay if they overlap or are on top of each other.
Cook on high for 2-5 hours. Ours cooked on high for 3.5 hours--you will know that the falafels are done when they turn brownish-golden. You can flip them halfway through the cooking time if you feel like it, but they will brown on top even without flipping. (I know. I don't get it either.)
Serve with yogurt sauce or mayonnaise. I made a quick yogurt sauce with Greek yogurt, celery seed, dill, salt and pepper and lemon juice.
The Verdict.
These were awesome! I never would have imagined that a delicate falafel would turn out so nicely in a slow cooker. I am thrilled that this worked and even more thrilled that my kids didn't run screaming from the kitchen when I showed them what we were having for dinner. They had plain pasta, but were polite with their "no thank yous."
Adam and I ate ours on corn tortillas with lettuce, tomato, and the yougurt sauce. This is enough food for a family of four. We were stuffed. Falafels are filling.
When I make these again, I'm going to add a bit more salt and at least double the cayenne pepper.
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