Amazing colourful falafel you will love and need
Colourful and falafel are not words I’ve put together before, but you will definitely love these and need to make them again! Falafel is one of those foods which conjures up summery images: long summer days; music festivals and pitta bread served from a street stall stuffed with numerous salads and sauce. Now falafel can be found in most places. In a supermarket, found in kebab shops (& other takeaways) and is even on the menu in restaurants and cafes.
I’ve always loved falafel and recall first eating it from numerous street stalls when I travelled in Jordan, rolled up in giant freshly baked flatbread with houmous and chopped salad. Yum! I already have a regular falafel recipe here, but this week I tried a new recipe including two vibrant and nutrient packed vegetables.
The Falafel Recipe
Falafel is traditionally made using dried chickpeas, but it is easy to make using a tin of chickpeas. Other ingredients include cumin and coriander powders, a bit of red chilli flakes if you like spice, and salt, pepper and garlic. The vegetables I have used are baby spinach and pre-cooked beetroot (you can cook this yourself from fresh or buy vacuum packed).
A twist on regular falafel, using beetroot and spinach to create red and green falafels.
- 2 x 400g tins chickpeas drained
- 2 teaspoons cumin powder
- 2 teaspoons coriander powder
- 3-4 cloves garlic finely diced
- salt, pepper & chilli flakes to taste
- 150 g beetroot (plain not in vinegar)
- 100 g baby spinach
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Put the chickpeas in a blender, food processor or mash by hand. You want a rough mix, with smooth bits and a few chunks!
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Scrape into a large bowl and add the cumin, coriander and garlic. Mix through, then season to your liking with salt, pepper and red chilli flakes.
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Divide the mixture into two ( you can divide into three if you want some regular falafel too).
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Roughly chop the beetroot, then put in the blender and pulse until finely chopped (you can use the same blender to save washing up). Add the beetroot to one of the bowls and then combine very well (this is best done using your hands)! Divide the mixture into 4, then make 3 or 4 balls from each portion (so you have 12 or 16 small balls).
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Wash the spinach well, then put in a pan and cover. Turn the heat on medium and allow to wilt down (the water clinging to the leaves should be sufficient). Remove from the heat and drain very well – I pushed mine against a large sieve. Add to the blender and pulse to break down. Drain again if necessary to remove any excess liquid. Add to the other bowl of chickpeas and mix well. Divide into 4, then make 3 or 4 balls from each portion (so you have 12 or 16 small balls).
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If you have a third bowl for plain falafel, form into balls as with the others.
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Place all of the falafel onto a lined baking tray. Optional – sprinkle with sesame seeds. Bake at Gas Mark 6 (400f / 200c) for 15-25 minutes (depending how crispy you like them).
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Enjoy!
What do I need?
You can (as with most of my recipes), make these as easy or complicated as you wish! I have created this recipe to bake these, but of course, falafel are usually fried. If you do wish to fry them, you may need to add a couple of tablespoonfuls of flour to help them stick together a bit better in the oil. You could also weigh the mixture to make them all uniform in size, and if you have a falafel press, then you could use that too!
If you are new to cooking or your kitchen needs a refresh, here are a few useful things for this recipe. I receive a small commission if you click and purchase through these links (this is at no additional cost to you)!
Serving
Falafel are typically served in bread with sauce and salad. We served these with coleslaw, salad and a drizzle of yogurt. I also tried these squished onto hot buttered toast (yes I really did)! Oh, and of course I ate a few straight from the fridge as they were looking at me!
Storage
These do store quite well, either in the fridge for up to five days or in the freezer for up to a month. If freezing, portion or separate with greaseproof paper, label and freeze. To reheat you can pop them in the oven for 10-15 minutes on a medium heat.
Sharing
I hope you make these colourful falafel and see how delicious this variation is! I love seeing your adaptions and interpretations of my recipes and I’d love to see your photos of these! Do you have any other ideas? How about a sweet potato falafel? or even a broccoli falafel?! What will you serve your falafel with? Please share and tag me @LifeDietHealth or using #LifeDietHealth on Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook or Twitter.
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I hope to speak with you soon
Laurena x