Lunch: Baked Falafel

To reduce the carbohydrates in this recipe, serve the falafel sandwiches in lettuce cups instead of whole wheat pitas.

This recipe includes superfoods such as:

Sesame Seeds

Health benefits of Baked Falafel

Sesame seeds help with progesterone balance. Lignans found in in sesame seeds help to prevent excess estrogen production.

Ingredients

Falafel Patties:
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 small onion, chopped
1 tablespoon curry powder
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 tablespoons minced cilantro
1 tablespoon minced parsley
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 15-ounce cans garbanzo beans (chickpeas), drained and rinsed
1½ tablespoons flour (whole wheat or all purpose)
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt (optional)
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
Cooking Spray
1 tablespoon sesame seeds
For Sauce:
1 cup non-fat, plain Greek yogurt
¼ cup tahini
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon minced parsley
For Sandwich:
4 whole wheat pita pockets, cut in half
2 tomatoes, sliced into 8 slices each
½ red onion, thinly sliced

Instructions

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Line a large baking sheet with a silicon mat or parchment paper. If using parchment paper, coat generously with cooking spray. Set aside.
In a food processor or blender, add garlic, onion, curry powder, cayenne pepper, cilantro, parsley and olive oil. Blend into a paste.
Add in garbanzo beans and pulse to chop beans and mix into onion paste. Do not blend the beans into a paste. The falafel should be slightly chunky.
Add flour, baking powder, salt (optional), and ground black pepper. Pulse until just incorporated.
Refrigerate falafel mixture for 15-20 minutes. While the falafel is chilling, add yogurt, tahini, garlic and parsley to a small bowl and whisk. Keep yogurt sauce in the refrigerator until ready to use.
Scoop falafel into balls that are about 2 tablespoons of mixture (or 1/8 of a cup). Place on baking sheet and repeat to make 16 falafel balls.
Spray the falafel balls with cooking spray and sprinkle with sesame seeds.
Bake on the bottom rack of the oven for 15 minutes. Turn the oven down to 350 and move the baking sheet to the top rack. Bake an additional 15 minutes.
Once the falafel is done baking, stuff two falafel balls into half of a whole wheat pita, add 2 tablespoons yogurt tahini sauce, 2 slices of tomato and 3-4 slices of red onion.

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