Falafel Pitas with Cucumber Dipping Sauce

I don't remember how I came across this recipe. Oh, I take that back. I think I had bookmarked a list of easy vegetarian dinners from the Cooking Light website and found it that way. I'm trying to work back in some more vegetarian meals into our dinners each week. I really like falafel, but I'd never tried making my own before. it sounded pretty easy from this recipe and most of the ingredients were things I had on hand (well, except the pita bread). Double bonus!!

Falafel Pitas with Cucumber Dipping Sauce
Source: CookingLight.com

1/4 cup minced red onion
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 (15 1/2-ounce) can chickpeas (garbanzo beans), rinsed and drained
1 (1-ounce) slice whole wheat bread, torn into pieces
1 large egg
1 large egg white
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
2 (6-inch) whole wheat pitas, split
1 cup arugula
1/2 cup Cucumber-Yogurt Dressing

Combine first 10 ingredients in a food processor; pulse 6 times or until well blended (mixture will be wet).

Heat olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Spoon about 1/3 cup chickpea mixture per patty into pan; cook 4 minutes on each side or until golden brown.

Line each pita half with 1/4 cup arugula, add 1 patty to each pita half, and spoon 2 tablespoons Cucumber-Yogurt Dressing into each pita half.

Cucumber-Yogurt Dressing
Source: CookingLight.com

1 cup plain fat-free yogurt
1/2 cup diced seedless cucumber
1/4 cup minced red onion
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl. Cover and chill.

Note: Nutritional analysis includes Cucumber-Yogurt Dressing.
Calories: 280
Calories from fat: 30%
Fat: 9.4g
Saturated fat: 1.2g
Monounsaturated fat: 5g
Polyunsaturated fat: 2.2g
Protein: 11.4g
Carbohydrate: 40.1g
Fiber: 7.3g
Cholesterol: 53mg
Iron: 3.3mg
Sodium: 592mg
Calcium: 81mg

*****

Since the nutritional info was there on the website, I figured I'd include it for the recipe. I actually used whole wheat naan instead of pita bread because pita bread and I just don't get along. We have issues...always have, always will. I find naan much easier to work with and even a little tastier.

I wasn't really sure what my kids were going to think of this, but they both ate it pretty well. Especially after I gave them ketchup to dip their falafel in. I know, I know...ketchup with falafel?! But they ate it all and there wasn't a fight at the dinner table. Sometimes we moms do what we gotta do.

This was super easy to put together and really tasty. I'd definitely make it again, especially since for the most part it was made up of things I had in my fridge or pantry already!

Falafel mixture:


Falafel patties cooking away:


Mmmm...falafel pitas...

Cassoulet

I have to say that I'm not really excited about dinner tonight. It sounded good when I read the recipe last week, so I put it on my menu plan for the week, but now I'm not excited. It just sounds too winter-y to me and not overly appealing for a 100+ degree day. But, I don't really want to come up with a new plan, so I'll just have to suck it up and go with it.

This is a recipe from the cookbook my message board put together. Just about every recipe I've made from it has been good, so I'm sure this will follow suit, I'm just not excited for it.

Cassoulet

1 pound chicken sausage, cooked
1 can kidney beans
1 can garbanzo beans
1 can black beans
1 can tomato sauce
3 medium carrots, thinly sliced
2 small onions, sliced, rings separated
1/2 cup red wine
1 Tbsp brown sugar
2-4 cloves garlic, minced
1-1/2 tsp dried thyme

To prepare the sausage, halve lengthwise and cut into 1/4 inch slices. Rinse and drain the beans well to remove as much salt as possible. Combine all ingredients into a bowl, mixing thoroughly. Transfer to an ungreased baking/casserole dish. Cover and bake at 375 for 60-70 minutes or until carrots are tender.

*****

I guess it's early enough that I still have time to come up with a new dinner idea. The idea of having my oven on for that long isn't appealing either. I'm so torn. I really want to try this, but I just don't know if today is the day.

Hummus

We're having falafel for dinner tonight, but I made a new hummus recipe to go with it. I really like my usual recipe for it, but this weekend I happened upon a different issue of Cook's Illustrated--Summer Entertaining--so of course I had to buy it. There was a recipe in it for "Best Hummus" and I figured it was worth trying since everything else I've made from any Cook's Illustrated has been fantastic.

Restaurant Style Hummus from Cook's Illustrated

1/4 cup water
3 Tablespoons lemon juice
6 Tablespoons well stirred tahini
2 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 15 ounce can drained and rinsed chickpeas
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cumin
pinch of cayenne
about 1 Tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro

Combine the water and lemon juice in one bowl, and the tahini and oil in another. Set aside about 12 of the whole chickpeas for a garnish.

Put the chickpeas, salt, garlic, cumin, and cayenne in a food processor and process for about 15 seconds. Scrap down the sides of the processor. Then add the lemon water mix through the feed tube with the processor running for about 1 minute. Scrap down the sides several times. Then add the oil and tahini, with the processor running, until the hummus is fluffy.

Put the hummus in a bowl, garnish with the cilantro and whole chickpeas, and drizzle with some olive oil if you want.

*****

This is good hummus, but I think I like my usual hummus recipe better. I think this one needs a little something more, but I'm not sure what. Plus mine is a lot lower in fat--six tablespoons of tahini packs a lot of flavor but also a lot of fat.