Falafel Salads With Garlic Tahini Recipes

Steps:

• Make the cabbage salad: Toss the cabbage, olive oil, lemon juice, honey and mint in a medium bowl. Season with salt and pepper.
• Make the tahini spread: Whisk together the tahini, lemon juice, and 1/4 cup water. Add up to 2 more tablespoons of water until the mixture is the consistency of mayonnaise. Season with salt and pepper.
• Make the burgers: Combine the onion, scallions, garlic, parsley, cumin, coriander and 1/2 teaspoon each salt and pepper in a food processor and pulse until finely chopped. Mash 1/2 cup of the chickpeas in a small bowl with a fork; set aside. Add half of the remaining chickpeas to the food processor and pulse until finely chopped (the mixture should look smooth but not pasty). Add the remaining whole chickpeas and pulse until roughly chopped (a few chickpeas may remain whole).
• Transfer the food processor mixture to a large bowl; add the chickpea flour and reserved mashed chickpeas and fold together with a rubber spatula until well combined. Form the chickpea mixture into four 4-inch-wide patties (1/2 to 3/4 inch thick). Place on a plate lined with wax paper. Loosely cover and chill for at least 30 minutes or up to overnight.
• Heat the olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add 2 patties; cook until dark brown and crisp, about 4 minutes. Carefully flip and cook until the other side is browned and the patties are hot in the center, 3 to 4 more minutes. Repeat with the remaining patties. Spread the tahini spread on the buns. Serve the burgers on the buns with the cabbage salad, pickles and pepperoncini.

Steps:

• 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 method, by leaving them in your colander on day two covered with a tea towel - they'll sprout little tails by the next day.
• Roughly chop your herbs, then blend the first nine ingredients in a food processor until they form a smooth paste, but still with a little bit of texture. You can omit the lemon zest if you don't love lemon (I do!).
• Heat a little coconut oil in a fry pan on medium high, then fry tablespoon sized balls on each side for around 3 minutes 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 leaf. Wash and dry the leaves (put the stems in the compost), roughly chop, place in a bowl with the olive oil, then massage with your hands for a minute until the leaves go bright green and soft. Add red onion, tomatoes and cucumber.
• Garlic Tahini Dressing: Blend the final six ingredients in a blender until super creamy and smooth. Make double if you dare - it's incredible on anything!
• Add as much dressing to the salad as you like (I used around half), then pour the rest into a bowl for drizzling at the table. Mix the salad gently with your hands to combine, then platter up, top with falafels, drizzle with sauce, sprinkle some extra herbs and sesame seeds if you like, and serve with freshly toasted wholemeal pita breads.

Steps:

• Make the spice mix: In a skillet over low heat, toast the coriander and cumin seeds until fragrant, 1-2 minutes. Grind the toasted seeds in a spice grinder. Add the dried parsley, granulated garlic, chili powder, granulated onion, za'atar, sumac, allspice, chili flakes, a few turns of black pepper and continue grinding to combine. Set aside. Spice mix will keep for several weeks in an airtight jar.
• For the falafel: In a food processor, add the chickpeas, chopped onion and garlic, parsley, cilantro, baking soda, spice mix and salt. Pulse until the mixture's combined and the chickpeas are pea-size, stopping and stirring halfway through. Tightly pack the falafel mixture into balls the size of an extra large marble and set aside.
• Fry the falafel: Pour oil half full into a deep pan and set over medium heat. Secure a deep-fry thermometer to the pan's side and heat oil to 375 degrees F. Using a spider strainer, gently drop the falafel balls, one at a time, into the hot oil making sure the pot isn't overcrowded with falafel. Cook until most of the bubbles have disappeared and the falafel is golden brown, 1-2 minutes. Remove to a wire rack fitted over a baking sheet to cool and repeat the process until all of the falafel balls are cooked.
• Make the tahini dressing and assemble the dish: In a blender add the garlic, water, tahini, lemon juice, olive oil, and salt. Blend until combined. Taste for seasoning, adding more salt and lemon juice if necessary and blend again. Set aside. Tahini sauce can be made several days ahead and stored in the refrigerator. To serve, place falafel balls on a platter, drizzle with tahini sauce and garnish with parsley and a lemon wedge.