Falafel

Last night for dinner we had falafel in a pita with tabbouleh. I've eaten falafel a number of times, but this was my first attempt at making them. All in all I'd say it was almost a success. They tasted delicious, they were devoured by the girls (always a sign of success), and Rob and I were left longing for more. Frying was the unsuccessful part. I SUCK at frying things (which, I guess if you're gonna be bad at something, frying is probably a good thing to be bad at!!). My things never turn out evenly browned, and it just never seems to work out quite right. The recipe came from a cookbook that a friend gave me, Vegetarian and Vegetable Cooking. You can find falafel recipes all over the web, but this one is just the basics. Chickpeas, cilantro, parsley, mint, garlic and bread crumbs all pulsed together in the food processor, rolled into balls and fried.

I served the falafels stuffed in whole wheat pitas with lettuce, tomato, onion, and cucumber. Along with the falafels we had some tabbouleh. I didn't use a recipe for this. Just cook the bulgur, and add in one large tomato, chopped, one medium onion chopped, and 1 medium cucumber diced small. Then flavor it all with lemon juice, olive oil, chopped parsley and chopped mint to taste.