Baked Oil-Free Falafels with Greek Salad, Pickled Onions and Tzatziki

Mediterranean food is delicious and I really love good falafels, but most restaurant falafels are deep fried. See my posts about restaurant falafels here http://table-karma.com/falafel-burgers-x-2-bench-pebble-beach-ca/ and here http://table-karma.com/tender-greens-falafel-hummus/. I set out to make oil-free falafels that I could enjoy while still feeling I was eating healthy food. This version is based on garbanzo beans and thickened with mashed potato, You could also use oats instead of potatoes.

I like the falafels either in a pita or wrapped in lettuce, or just on a plate, and love adding a chopped greek-style salad with cucumber, tomato and avocado, and some fresh spinach, and some of my pickled red onions, and of course topped with some plant-based tzatziki.

Here is how I made it:

I gathered my Ingredients, a sauce pan, a baking sheet and my food processor.and preheated my oven to 375 degrees.

I f you have a cooked potato on hand, you can use that or you can bake the potato until soft (about 45 minutes)

I wanted to dry the garbanzo beans by spreading the drained garbanzo beans (I used 2 ascetic containers of beans) on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and roasted them in the oven for about 20-30 minutes.

While the potato was baking and the beans were roasting, I water-sauteed 1 chopped onion and about 5 cloves of garlic, chopped, in a small amount of water. until softened. Then I added in the spices and seasonings and continued heating to release the aromatics, until all the water is evaporated. I added 2 teaspoons of coriander, 2 teaspoons of cumin, 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper, and salt and pepper to taste. Then I set the pan aside while the beans and potato were finishing.

For me, parsley is an important flavor in falafels and it also gives them a distinctive green color. In the food processor, I pulsed about a cup of parsley leaves until minced. Then, everything else went into the food processor–the roasted garbanzo beans, the potato, the onions, garlic and spices, together with 1/4 cup sesame tahini. Then I pulsed the food processor lightly, just until all was mixed but with some chunky bean pieces remaining.

I used a cookie scoop to make balls out of the mixture and placed them on the baking sheet just like making cookies–I used the same one I used for roasting the beans and the same parchment as well. I flattened the balls a little and popped them in the oven for about 15 minutes until golden. I turned the patties over and baked for about 10 more minutes.