I love falafel. I love how silly it sounds, I love how flavorful it is and I love how versatile it can be. Traditional falafel, however, isn’t all that healthy. It’s deep friend and sometimes greasy. So even when I’m at a restaurant that serves authentic falafel I steer clear for fear of what it might do to my digestion and/or skin.
Then, I discovered the falafel wrap at Cafe Gratitude in California. Ever since then I’ve been hooked. It has single-handedly changed my views on dehydration and imitation raw foods (my general opinion is that dehydration is a pain and imitation foods are an insult to the original raw food creations we could be making).
When I left California I was so sad to also be leaving Cafe Gratitude. Then, two years later, I finally thought:
why don’t I make my own falafel?
Duh. So simple. And it’s probably easy.
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In fact, this was incredibly easy. I just looked up traditional recipes and made note of the underlying flavors and consistency. Then I threw a bunch of things in a food processor, scooped out mini ball shapes and plopped them onto a dehydrator sheet.
If you don’t have a dehydrator sheet you can bake at a low temperature. Though, be warned, I have not baked these so I don’t even know a suggested temperature or duration.
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Mini Falafels:
a recipe
1 1/2 cup walnuts, soaked
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/3 cup each fresh parsley, cilantro
1 1/4 t cumin
1/2 t dried oregano
2 T olive oil
1/2 t sea salt
1/4 t ground pepper
~2 T water, as needed
Combine the greens, oil, water, garlic and spices into a food processor and process until a paste/liquid forms, stopping to scrape down the sides as needed. Once the liquid forms, add your walnuts and process until a dough forms. Be careful with the water, it is needed more to facilitate the processing than as a major component; too much will make it too wet
Scoop out, using a Tablespoon measurer, and place on the mesh sheet of a dehydrator tray. Mine only made about 6 mini falafels. If you want more, double the recipe or add another cup of nuts. Dehydrate at 105 overnight. The outer layer should be firm and almost crispy. The inside should be soft but dried.
Serve as you’d like! I served mine with a zucchini hummus dressing over lettuce and zucchini noodles. YUM!
Let me know what you think when you try them!
xo
if you dont have a dehydrator how do you cook these?
Hi Arianna! That's a great question. You could try pan frying them over medium heat to get the outer crust more crispy. You could also try baking them on a lower heat like 300 up to 350 for a few minutes. I'm not sure, I haven't cooked them so just keep a close eye on them and be careful! I don't want to fill your kitchen with smoke 🙂