Mini Green Falafel with Yogurt Tahini Sauce

Recipe by The View From the Great Island

Mini Green Falafel with Yogurt Tahini Sauce is a healthy Middle Eastern appetizer made with chickpeas, spices, and lots and lots of fresh herbs.  These healthy gluten free chickpea fritters will become your new favorites! There are two special things about this homemade falafel recipe.  First, they’re mini cocktail sized, perfect for spearing with a toothpick.   Second, when you bite into them they’re emerald green because of all the finely minced parsley, cilantro and mint inside. These Middle Eastern chickpea fritters are usually served in bigger patties, wrapped up in pita.  But this way they’re a little lighter and brighter, and you still get to dip them into that wonderful lemony Yogurt Tahini sauce. I laid them out on a bed of micro greens.  Have you seen all the micro greens they have now?  It’s crazy.  I even saw micro-iceberg…no kidding.  This is micro-romaine. If you’ve always wondered how to make falafel I’ll take you through the steps, it’s really quite easy.  I use chickpea flour for this falafel recipe, although I in other recipes like my BEST FALAFEL I’ve also used ground chickpeas.  You can find chickpea, or garbanzo bean flour, at Whole Foods, and sometimes even in …

Ingredients

• big handful of parsley leaves (finely minced)
• big handful of cilantro leaves (finely minced)
• big handful of mint leaves (finely minced)
• ½ small red onion, very finely minced
• 1½ cups Chickpea flour
• pinch onion powder
• pinch garlic powder
• ½ tsp cumin
• ½ tsp coriander
• ½ tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp salt
• juice of lemon
• ½ cup hot water (you may not need it all)
• fresh cracked pepper to taste
• vegetable oil for frying
• yogurt Tahini Sauce
• ½ cup Greek yogurt
• ½ cup tahini sauce
• juice of one lemon
• salt to taste

Method

1. Use a small food processor to finely chop the fresh herbs. I ended up with approximately 1/2 cup of finely minced mixed herbs.
2. Mix all the rest of of the ingredients (except the vegetable oil) in a bowl, including the herbs, adding just enough water to get a thick batter/paste. Add a little more or a little less water so that you have the consistency of a very thick cornbread batter. It will be sticky, but not watery. Set aside for 10 minutes while you heat up your oil.
3. In a heavy bottomed pan heat about 2 inches of vegetable oil to 350 degrees. Drop small balls of batter into the oil, working in batches. I use a 1" scoop and dropped the batter right in from the scoop. Fry for 1 to 2 minutes, tossing the balls as they cook, until evenly golden brown. Drain on a paper towel.
4. Serve hot with Yogurt Tahini Sauce.
5. To make the sauce, mix equal parts Greek style yogurt with Tahini, and then stir in fresh lemon juice to taste. Thin with cold water to your desired consistency. Season with salt to taste.

View the recipe instructions at The View From the Great Island