Chickpea Falafel

Dinner the Bevko way.  As advocates of clean eating, we try to remove gluten, sugar, and other ingredients from our recipes.  Give our Chickpea Falafel a try and let us know what you think!

Ingredients

• 2 cups dry chickpeas / garbanzo beans
• 1 small onion, roughly chopped
• 1 bunch cilantro, chopped
• 1 bunch parsley, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic
• 2 Tbsp gluten-free flour (quinoa, brown rice, millet)
• 1 Tbsp cumin
• 2 tsp ground coriander
• pinch of ground cardamon
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 2 Tbsp coconut oil

For the Sauce:

• ½ cup tahini
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 2 lemons, juiced
• ½ bunch cilantro, chopped
• Season with sea salt to taste

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 F.

2. In a large bowl, place dried chickpeas, and cover with water 3 inches above the chickpeas. Let the chickpeas soak overnight. Chickpeas will double in size after soaking overnight.

3. Drain and rinse the chickpeas well. In a food processor, place all ingredients including the chickpeas, onion, parsley, garlic, flour, salt, cumin, coriander, cayenne pepper, cardamom, and coconut oil.

4. Pulse all ingredients together until the a rough, coarse meal forms. Do not over-process or create a paste. The mixture should be coarse and granular, yet easy to shape without crumbling.

5. Once mixture reaches desired consistency, pour into a medium bowl, and form into even size balls. Using a tablespoon, form about 2 tablespoons of mixture per falafel. If mixture seems to loose and falls apart, stir in a little bit of flour into the mixture.

6. Once all falafel balls are formed, place on a lined baking sheet tray, and bake until crisp to the touch, approximately 20-30 minutes. To serve the falafel, place in kale wrap with vegetables such as chopped cucumber, tomato, parsley, and onions. Finally drizzle with creamy tahini sauce.

7. To make the tahini sauce: Place all ingredients in a food processor, and blend until fully combined.