I take advantage of the night when The Renaissance Man is at work to experiment with the foods he dislikes. Usually I mix up some hummus, and occasionally I make some chili. But this week I wanted to try something different.

I had just canned a bunch of chick peas, and I wanted to find something besides hummus to make with them. Enter: falafel. I love falafel. There was a gross little hole-in-the-wall place near where I worked in St. Louis that had the best falafel ever. Just don’t pay too much attention to the conditions in which they were cooked and you’re fine. I have yet to find a good falafel joint here in TX, so I set out to make my own.

I should have attempted to make them sooner. This was the best, lightest, tastiest dinner I have had in a while. It was filling and flavorful without weighing me down. I whipped up some tzatziki sauce to send these babies over the edge!

Baked Falafel with Tzatziki Sauce

Ingredients:

Falafel:

• 1 15 oz. can of chick peas, drained
• 1/2 a yellow onion, chopped
• 1/4 C. parsley
• 1/4 C. cilantro
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 egg
• 2 tsp. cumin
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. black pepper
• a pinch of cayenne
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• enough bread crumbs to pull everything together (about 1/2 C.)

Tzatziki Sauce:

• 1 C. plain yogurt
• 1/2 a cucumber, seeded and minced
• 1/4 tsp. dill seed
• a squeeze of lemon juice
• salt and pepper to taste

Step 1: Mix all of the ingredients for the sauce together. You can peel the cucumber if you want; I like to keep mine on. Put the mixed up sauce in the fridge so the flavors  can meld.

Step 2: Put the chopped onion, parsley, cilantro, and garlic into a food processor and blend until smooth. Set aside for a minute.

Step 3: Mash up the drained chick peas in a bowl with a potato masher or spatula. DO NOT use a blender; the consistency will be too smooth.

Step 4: Once the chick peas are mashed, add the pureed onion mixture. Mix together.

Step 5: Add all the other ingredients to the chick pea mixture and mix thoroughly until everything is combined. Add the bread crumbs slowly until the mixture comes together. I needed more bread crumbs in mine, but I ran out. Form the mixture into patties and place on an oiled baking sheet.

Bake the patties in a 425 degree oven for 20 minutes, then flip and bake for another 8 minutes. For a more traditional falafel, you can fry them in a heavy pan with some oil, but I find this an unnecessary addition of oil.

Serve on a plate or in a pita with your tzatziki sauce drizzled over the top. Some red bell pepper doesn’t hurt, either!

The Wife