in this city it seems everyone loves a good falafel. it is perhaps the king of the street foods…but oh-so-utterly-unhealthy in all of its deep-fried glory. it was at the chain restaurant chickpea that i first wrapped my taste buds around its baked counterpart. and ya know, it really was quite good. but i was convinced that i could do better. it was after watching a food network program (i think it was alton brown’s good eats) about falafel that i learned of the common (in some areas of the middle east) practice of adding zucchini to falafel was finally motivated to give it a whirl. the zucchini was a minor epiphany to me…it alleviates my one common gripe about falafel..”too dry!” after 4 attempts of varying success i came up with my picture perfect zucchini falafel recipe.

gluten-free (easily made vegan) baked zucchini falfel

(makes approx 25 patties)

ingredients:

* 2 cans of chickpeas, rinsed and drained)
* 2 medium zucchinis
* 1 egg (vegan alternative: use egg-replacer)
* 4 - 6 garlic cloves
* 1 onion
* 2 1/2 tbs cumin
* 1 tbs coriander
* 1/2 tbs chili powder
* 1/2 tbs salt
* 1/4 tbs pepper
* 1 cup brown rice flour
* handful of chopped parsley
* 1 tsp baking powder
* olive oil
* 1 cup greek yogurt (fage)
* 1/2 of a lemon

process:

* preheat oven to 375
* peel and chop the zucchini. and saute it in olive oil until it begins to brown (you can just grate the raw zucchini, but i find that makes the falafel a little bit bitter)
* chop the onion & garlic
* put the onion, garlic, zucchini, parsley & about 1/4 of the chickpeas into a food processer and blend until smooth
* mash the remaining chickpeas by hand…i actually use my hands, you can use a tool if you want though (doing it all in the food processor makes it too liquidy. they are best when still a tad chunky)
* mix the zucchini mixture into the mashed chickpeas
* mix half of the flour (1/2 c) and spices in a separate bowl & then incorporate them into the chickpea mixture
* add the egg to the mixture and stir it in well
* your mixture should still be sticky…if it liquidy,however, add a little bit more flour (and if you add more flour, add more salt too)
* spray a cookie sheet with cooking spray or wipe with olive oil
* spread the rest of your flour onto the counter
* to make your patties scoop some of the mixture into your hand sprinkle a little flour on one side then flip the patty and sprinkle a little flour onto the other side. at this point the patty should hold its shape fairly well (if doesnt, your mix may need more flour)
* arrange your patties onto the cookie sheet and drizzle the tops of the patties with a bit of olive oil.
* place the sheet on the middle rack of the oven. bake at 375 for approx 20 - 25 mins (until they are cooked through), then place them under the broiler for another 2 mins to brown the top
* alternative: for the less health concious falafel-lover you can fry the patties in oil. they take about 3-4 mins per side
* i serve these with a simple lemon-yogurt sauce. just 1/2 a lemon’s worth of juice squeezed into a 1/2 c of greek yogurt (fage 2%)…some people prefer cucumber yogurt or dill yogurt. it’s all up to you.

enjoy this wheat-free, easily-made-vegan, perfect for parties, health-tastic dish!

zucchini falafel