Meatless Monday: Falafels in Pitas

A lot of my Meatless Mondays involve chickpeas. We love them here. Here's a delicious way to use them in something other than hummus ;-)



You will need:

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• 1 drained can of chickpeas, or 1 cup dried chickpeas cooked and drained.  (Will be slightly less than 2 cups.)
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 2 Tablespoons flour
• salt and pepper to taste (about a pinch each)
• about 1/4 cup more flour for dusting hands and rolling falafels in.
• Vegetable oil for frying

Dump everything but the last 1/4 cup of flour into a food-processor. Pulse until a thick paste, stopping frequently to scrape down the sides.

Using lightly floured fingers, roll into balls slightly smaller than ping-pongs. Flatten slightly, the will be about silver-dollar sized.  Lightly roll in the remaining flour to coat. Set aside. Let rest for about 5 minutes while you heat your oil. Fry without crowding, a few at a time for about 2-3 minutes on each side until dark golden brown. Let drain on paper towels.

Serve as you wish, but they are most commonly served in a halved pita, with lettuce and/or tomatoes. We like them with spinach leaves and a simple cucumber sauce. We love these homemade whole wheat pitas from Tammy's Recipes.

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Serve them with a tasty Middle-Eastern side, like tabbouleh.  (Seen here is a quinoa tabbouleh.)