Falafel salad with garlic tahini dressing
- 10 mins
- 20 mins
- Serves 8
A delicious recipe for the whole family. Brilliant for batch cooking on a Sunday, so you have lunch (or dinner) set for the week ahead. The garlic tahini dressing is so good, you’ll be drizzling it over everything!
Ingredients
Falafels:
- 2 cup dry chickpeas, soaked overnight
- 1 cup fresh parsley
- 1 cup fresh coriander
- 1 large onion, diced
- 4 cloves garlic
- 1 lemon, juice and flesh
- 1 tbsp cumin
- Black pepper to taste
Kale salad:
- 1 bunch kale
- 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar (or lemon juice)
- 1 cup cucumber, sliced
- 1 cup tomatoes, quartered
- ½ cup red onion, thinly sliced
Garlic tahini dressing:
- ½ cup hulled tahini
- ½ cup hot water
- 1 lemon, juice and flesh
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 date
To serve:
- 8 small wholemeal pita breads
- Fresh herbs
- Lemon wedges
- Sesame seeds
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 200°C fan bake.
- Falafels: Soak your chickpeas overnight in a big bowl of water, then drain and rinse before using. You can also do the two day soak and sprout if you like, by leaving them in your colander on day two covered with a tea towel - they'll sprout little tails by the next day, making them even more nutrient dense and absorbable by the body.
- Roughly chop your herbs, then blend all falafel ingredients in a food processor until they form a relatively smooth past that sticks together when pressed.
- Roll tablespoon sized balls and place on a baking tray lined with unbleached degradable paper. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes, then flip each falafel and bake for another 10 minutes or until golden.
- Kale Salad: Pull the kale leaves off their stems by grabbing the stem with one hand and pushing your thumb and forefinger from the top of the stem down to the tip, removing the leaves. Wash and dry the leaves (put the stems in the compost), roughly chop, place in a bowl with the vinegar then massage with your hands for a minute until the leaves go bright green and soft. Add remaining salad ingredients and mix through.
- Garlic Tahini Dressing: Blend all ingredients in a blender until super creamy and smooth. I highly recommend making double here - it's incredible on anything!
- Plate up the kale salad on each plate, top with cucumber, tomatoes, red onion, falafels, drizzle with dressing, and top with extra herbs and sesame seeds. Serve with freshly toasted wholemeal pita breads, or your favourite gluten free pita/wrap equivalent, and a wedge of lemon.
Chef's Tips
- Make it gluten free: Use your favourite gluten free pitas or wraps, or serve alongside ½-1 cup of brown rice per serve.
- This falafel salad is also equally delicious on a simple mesclun or cos salad, which I often use if kale isn't in season. Choose your favourite salad base!
- The smoother the paste, the softer, more delicious, and authentic tasting the falafels will be. Too much texture will mean crunchy slightly uncooked falafels (when it's more blended, they cook quicker). So be sure to blend enough (not a complete purée, but not too far off).
- If you still find your falafels are a little crumbly (or your food processor isn’t able to get a smooth enough mix), you can add 2 tbsp of chickpea (or brown rice) flour to the mix to help the binding process.
- Leftover dressing (if there is any!) will keep in the fridge in a sealed jar for 3-4 days - it will thicken overnight making it great for spreading on toast toppers and burgers. Otherwise simply add a bit more water to thin out the next day.
- Leftover falafels will keep in the fridge for up to a week, or can freeze for up to a month. Simply take them out to defrost, and reheat in a non stick pan or oven to serve.