In between two mental breakdowns, body still requires to be fueled, so today while we had the one-hour walk in the sun we also had a discussion about "what for lunch?"
Honestly I got tired of thinking what for 3x a day, breakfast, lunch and dinner. I can strongly recall mom was always making breakfast and lunch, and dinner was lunch leftovers. In my case lunch disappear asap and for dinner I am having the same question served on plate.
Peas he said..
Not today Satan, not today!
Especially not the bought one with a dash of ice after being prepared, I can have it, but let's leave it for some other day, pretty please?
I need something crunchy swimming in sauce, but no meat.
Falafel, mouth started watering and I got back in time when one of my friends was ordering it, same scent spread out around park + I had a nice bowl of already cooked and frozen back in fridge, all I have to do if defrost them, spice them up, shape and ta-daaa!
Saturn (scale) weighed 500 g of chickpeas, that will be more than enough for two x2 meals. Next to it all you gonna need are spices, pepper, salt, cumin, cayenne pepper, parsley and few cloves garlic.
In most cases, falafel is fried in deep oil, and that's the part that I didn't like even when my friend ordered it, the very thought of the oil leaking with every bite seemed to me to be bland an yikes - mine will be oven baked with slight of risk to end up dry.
Mix all spices with chickpeas and blend them until you get nice creamy texture, no additional liquid required.
The mixture is so easy to shape, it won't give you too many headaches, it's enough to just slightly wet your hands and make balls in the desired size, place them on baking paper, warm up the oven on 200c and send them to bake until crispy golden crust appears.
(intentionally the garlic is cut into larger pieces, and you can finely chop it)
The sauce is based on chard, these are the last frozen pieces from the garden. I've already written about this great and easy-to-make sauce, so I wouldn't bother you about it now.
All I'm gonna say on that topic - there is a great difference in taste between spinach and chard.
At the very end of baking the falafel, I added a couple of drops of oil to each one, remember that there was no oil in the recipe and that they are prepared in deep oil, I wouldn't want to risk that much...
Half an hour later, the golden color announced the end of baking, the sauce was ready at the same time, a few minutes of cooling and serving can begin.
The color was definitely not the same as the ones that permeated my memory, but the smell was THE ONE and that was enough for me to know - I didn't mess anything up.
(smoking hot)
A couple of spoonfuls of sauce, a couple of balls, a spoonful of sour cream and that would be quite enough for one meal.
Although in the photo they look more like a freshly baked pastry dipped in something green, it is the smell and taste that will take you exactly where you need to be - full and happy.
Not bad for the first try...
When did you last time enjoyed falafel, deep fried, homemade or whatever kind, everything counts?
