Baked fava bean falafel
Baked fava bean falafel
In Arab countries, falafel is usually made with fava beans. They take a bit of work to prepare properly, but I think it is worth it. They have a wonderful earthy flavour. My favourite falafel memory is from Madaba, Jordan. We made a daily trek to a small restaurant serving falafel and foul. I would put hot sauce in the foul and then spoon it on my falafel wrap. My mouth waters thinking about the flavours. This recipe is a healthier version because it is baked, instead of deep fried. The high baking temperature makes the falafel crunchy on the outside and soft in the middle.
Yields: 14- 16 falafel
Ingredients
1 cup dry fava beans – soaked and rinsed[i]
1 cup fresh spinach
1 cup fresh parsley
¼ cup tahini
¼ cup oat flour (you can grind your own oat flakes)
¼ cup lemon juice
1 teaspoon lemon rind or ½ tablespoon lemon powder
½ tablespoon garlic powder
1 ½ teaspoons ground cumin
1 ½ teaspoons Himalayan salt
½ teaspoon pepper
¼ cup sesame seeds
Fixings
Tomatoes
Cucumbers
Lettuce
Cilantro
Olive oil and vinegar – I used my Greek dressing
Hot sauce
Method
Soak the beans overnight. Make sure there are a couple inches of water overtop the beans because they will expand. Rinse them in the morning and remove the skins. If the skins aren’t coming off easily pour boiling water over the top of the beans and let it sit a few minutes. The skin should come off.
Preheat oven to 400 F.
Put all the ingredients except the sesame seeds in a food processor with the S-blade. Pulse until well mixed. You will have to stop a couple times to scrape down the sides to make sure all the ingredients are well incorporated.
Form into balls, about 2 tablespoons each. Roll them in sesame seeds and place them on a parchment or silicon lined baking tray.
Bake for 10-12 minutes, then gently flip the falafel. Cook them another 10 – 12 minutes until they are crispy.
Serve in a whole wheat pita with a mixture of cucumber, tomato and red onion tossed lightly in olive oil, red wine vinegar and a pinch of salt and pepper. Top with a chiffonade of lettuce, cilantro, my lemon tahini dressing and provide some hot sauce on the side for people who like a little heat like me.
The falafel freezes well. To reheat leftover or frozen falafel on a baking sheet in a preheated 400 F oven. In about 5 minutes they will be ready to eat.
[i] There are a few different varieties of fava beans – all of them work in this recipe. I could only find the small fava beans with the dark skin, which added a bit of prep time because they are little harder to peel.
