This past week, I’ve been tinkering with going plant based. My body had been feeling an aversion to animal products for a while and after eating red meat last week, I felt sick to my stomach and decided it was time to listen to my body.
I had been resisting transitioning to plant based because it’s challenging for me to find vegan sources of protein that agree with me, given that I don’t like to consume too much soy, and my body doesn’t tolerate beans and lentils well.
I decided to find a middle ground and try to find my own, unique eating style that agrees with me, moving towards plant based, and testing out different beans and lentils in small quantities to see my reaction.
I have always been a falafel lover, but I would often find them to be quite dense, leaving me feeling like I have a brick in my stomach. I decided to create a recipe that added in cauliflower and zucchini to lighten the falafel, while also making them more nutrient dense. They are 100% plant based and gluten free, without the use of egg whites or bread crumbs for binding! Also, prep time under 15 minutes and ready in 30! Guys, they are DELISH!
Zucchini Cauliflower Falafel Recipe
Yield: makes 8 patties
Prep time: 14 minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes
Ingredients:
- 1 cup canned chickpeas (see my footnote)
- 1 1/2 cups grated zucchini (extra moisture removed by wringing out the water from the shredded zucchini using a dish towel)
- 1/2 head cauliflower
- 5 green onions, chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, crushed
- 1/2 cup parsley, chopped
- 1 cup cilantro, chopped
- 3/4 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 cup crushed almonds
- 1/4 teaspoon coriander
*These came out delish, but slightly crumbly. I read that if you use 1 cup of dried/uncooked chickpeas, the patties hold better. I haven’t tried it yet, but if you decided to go this route, you would just place the chickpeas in a large bowl and cover them with 4 inches of water. (The beans will triple in volume as they cook.) Set the chickpeas aside to soak overnight for a minimum of 12 hours and up to 24 hours. (The chickpeas are ready to use when they are easily broken apart with your fingers.) Follow the same directions below, adding chickpeas into food processor.
Steps:
Note: before starting, consider consolidating your prep and cut all garlic and herbs for all components of the dish at once.
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees
- Line and grease baking sheet with avocado oil
- To a food processor add chickpeas, zucchini (ensuring that you have drained out the extra liquid by wringing through a dish cloth), cauliflower, green onions, garlic, parsley, cilantro, cumin, salt, almonds, and coriander. Puree to combine until the mixture appears to be a thick paste.
- Form the mixture into 6 small patties. The mixture will be very wet and delicate, add additional crushed almonds as needed to form it into patties.
- Put the patties on a tray and refrigerate for 30 minutes to allow to firm slightly
- Arrange falafel patties on the greased baking sheet and cook for 15 minutes, flip and cook 15 minutes on other side
- Serve with babaganoush and enjoy!
XO
Misha
