Tag: Gluten-Free
The Best Chickpea Falafel Patties
Truth – falafel is one of my all time favorite foods, it’s right up there with pizza & burritos. Falafel is a vegan & gluten-free crowd pleaser making it an easy choice for this healthy, plant-eating girl. So I obviously have my own version of falafels that’s quick & simple to make at home, and, not to mention, totally delicious & addictive.
To make my falafel patties, I blend soaked chickpeas with onion, garlic, cumin, parsley, paprika, salt & olive oil. No gluten, no eggs, no dairy. AMAZING! I pan fry them to get some good color on the outside and then finish them up in the oven for a no-fuss, no-vat-of-oil-needed rendition.
These guys are a great snack on their own or an epic meal stuffed into pitas with loads of fixings. They reheat beautifully and taste great cold so, you guessed it, meal prep friendly!
The falafels you get at restaurants are generally deep fried, so I love being able to control the quality and health-factor when making them at home. I use organic chickpeas & high-quality olive oil to make my falafels, and they’re honestly just as satisfying as the restaurant falafel patties.
I recommend whipping up some simple lemon tahini sauce for serving. Or an easy yogurt tzatziki sauce would be stellar too. Eat as sandwiches or pile onto lettuce for a more veg-heavy meal. There’s so much you can do with these guys, go for a double batch and thank me later.
Easy Falafel Patties
Serves: 4 Start to Finish: 30 minutes (not including soaking time)
Ingredients
1 cup dry garbanzo beans/chickpeas, soaked*
2 cloves garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
1 small or 1/2 medium/large yellow onion, peeled and roughly chopped
1/4 cup olive oil, + more for browning
1.5 teaspoons ground cumin
1.5 teaspoons sea salt, fine grain
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/4 cup packed fresh parsley leaves (or 1.5 tablespoons dried parsley)
To Make
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Prepare a baking sheet with parchment.
Drain and rinse soaked beans. Add all ingredients to a food processor or blender and process until a uniform batter is formed (it will still have a visibly grainy texture). Form the batter into 12 patties. It might seem very wet, but should still form into patties easily. You can refrigerate the batter or patties for a bit to make them easier to handle. I don’t find this necessary but I sometimes do it.
On a griddle pan or in a frying pan (cast iron recommended), heat a very thin layer of olive oil over medium-low heat. Fry patties for 3-5 minutes per side, or until golden and crisp. Cook patties in batches if needed, replacing oil between batches.
Transfer to oven and bake for 8-10 minutes at 375 degrees.
Serve the falafels on a salad or in a pita with sauces & toppings of choice. Need an idea? Check out this pita sandwich I made using this recipe!
Notes:
To soak chickpeas either 1) soak in water over night in the fridge or 2) bring chickpeas and water to a boil, boil for 2 minutes, turn off heat, cover and soak for 1 hour. Drain soaking liquid off before cooking with the chickpeas.
Side note, these patties reheat really well. But I often eat them cold anyway, so reheating after the fridge is definitely not necessary.
I recently tried forming 4 burger size patties instead of 12 smaller ones, and it was great (much less work)! Bake them for 12-15 minutes instead of 8-10 after browning.
Quick & Easy Pickled Red Onions
Curried Lentil Soup with Citrus Brown Rice
Caprese Bowls with Pesto-Rice & Peaches
Hello readers! I’m just going to jump right in because I’m so excited for this post. I don’t say this often because I’m cooking literally all the time, but this recipe tops the charts for me. One of my favorite dishes I’ve ever come up with. While this dish is really simple, there’s a lot going on, so let’s break it down a little.
Last week I made a batch of classic basil pesto. I first used it for a simple pesto fusilli pasta with sun dried tomatoes, artichoke hearts, zucchini and roasted red peppers. Yummy no doubt, but pretty standard. So for the remainder of the pesto, I wanted to come up with something new and original. While at a restaurant a couple weeks ago, I had a delish Caprese salad layered with pesto instead of fresh basil and it was just divine. Additionally, Chop’t (my go-to fast-casual restaurant for inventive and fresh salads) recently added a summer seasonal salad plate that combines the classic Caprese flavors with sweet peaches. A Caprese-style dish with basil pesto and peaches was obviously the direction I needed to go. But the question was, how to make it a meal? Why not toss the pesto with nutty brown rice and make it a rice bowl!? Perfect.
When I put this dish together last night, Matt was definitely skeptical. I have tried peaches in savory dishes a handful of times, so I wasn’t quite as worried as him. But still, I was eager to see if my recipe came together as deliciously as I had imagined. Short answer, it did. Matt and I both absolutely loved it. The ripe and juicy peaches with the savory basil pesto worked together in perfect harmony. And who doesn’t love mini balls of fresh mozzarella and sweet cherry tomatoes? The last touch was to add mixed greens tossed in balsamic vinaigrette. Ugh, so good. I’m totally obsessed. It’s summer in a bowl!
I love this dish too because not only are the flavors out of control, but it’s also a balanced and light meal that I don’t feel even the slightest bit guilty eating. It’s naturally gluten-free due to the brown rice and packed with fresh produce (aka tons of vitamins and nutrients). Because of this, I definitely consider it to be a “detox meal”. Yes, it has cheese. But that doesn’t stop me from calling something healthy. No way.
Warning, I’m about to go on a mini rant.
I got a comment on my Instagram one time because I had hash-tagged “healthy” on a simple cage-free-vegetarian-fed-egg and cheese sandwich on a sprouted grain English muffin. Side note: I love commentary, especially commentary that sparks healthy debate so know I’m not lashing out because of a controversial comment. Anyway, the commentor simply said “cheese isn’t healthy”. Since then, the whole “cheese is not healthy” issue is something that really bothers me. Not only because I love cheese and find that it can make many meat-free meals more satisfying, but also because it’s such a ridiculous notion. Processed cheese in excessive quantities, not good. Anything high in fat and sodium in excessive quantities, not good. Natural, calcium- and protein-rich cheese in moderation? Go for it. The word “healthy” is subjective and can be defined in countless ways. To label cheese as unhealthy is a major generalization that doesn’t take a lot of factors into consideration. Net net, please do not generalize all cheeses and place them automatically in the category of “unhealthy”. At least not to me.
Anyway, I think I’m getting a little bit hangry here, and I have leftovers from last night’s Caprese Bowls calling my name. Screaming my name actually. Gotta go!
Caprese Bowls with Pesto Rice & Ripe Peaches
Serves: 4 Start to Finish: 20-50 min (depending on rice cooking method)
Ingredients
1 cup dry Brown Rice or 2 cups cooked Brown Rice
Sea Salt
1/3 cup Basil Pesto (get my recipe here or use store bought)
Mixed Greens
1/4 cup Balsamic Vinegar
2 ripe Peaches, pits removed, cut into bite size pieces
1 pint Cherry Tomatoes, halved or quartered
8 ounces Fresh Mozzarella (I used Bocconcini, or bite size mozzarella, each ball halved)
To Make
Cook rice according to package instructions. Cooking dry rice takes about 45 minutes, frozen cooked rice or pre-cooked rice works too. If cooking dry rice, use 1 cup rice with 2-1/4 cups water and 1/2 teaspoon salt.
Meanwhile, prepare pesto (if making from scratch, store bought works too). Cut peaches, tomatoes and mozzarella. Toss greens with vinegar. Divide dressed lettuce between 4 bowls or plates. Evenly distribute peaches, tomatoes and mozzarella over greens.
When rice is finished cooking, add pesto to rice and stir until well combine. Scoop about 1/2 cup pesto-rice onto each bowl. Serve with a fresh basil garnish if desired.
Best of Basic: Basil Pesto Sauce
My recent vacation to my family’s summer cottage in Canada was super inspirational in terms of cooking and food. To no one’s surprise we ate well and often, and had a blast in the kitchen along the way. The inspiration for this post came from spending time cooking with my mom, who is the master chef in my life. She is the queen of delicious, simple and inventive cooking and, somehow, everything always tastes better when she makes it.
One of my favorite meals from the trip was my mom’s loaded pesto pasta with sundried tomatoes, pine nuts, zucchini and fresh basil. She’s not inventing the wheel with this one, as pesto pasta is pretty standard, but watching her throw it together in a matter of minutes made me wonder why I wasn’t taking advantage of how easy a pesto pasta comes together. I’ve said it before, I need more recipes that can be thrown together in a pinch with minimal effort, and this pasta dish falls under that category. I’ll talk more about the specifics of her awesome loaded pesto pasta in a later post, but today, I’m just focusing on the actual pesto.
In addition to my mom’s pasta, I’ve been seeing and eating pesto everywhere these days. My favorite pizza place in Williamsburg (Vinnie’s) uses a pesto vinaigrette as the dressing on my favorite salad, and while driving from our cottage to the Toronto airport we stopped for lunch where I had an amazing Caprese salad layered with pesto instead of fresh basil. Finally, on a recent trip to St. Louis, I ordered a pizza at my fave spot (called Pi) that drizzled pesto on top just before serving. It’s clear that a go-to pesto recipe is a must.
I’ve made pesto before, although it’s been awhile, and I’ve seen it made on TV loads of times. It’s quite simple and always pretty much the same. Use a food processor to blend the seven uncooked ingredients and you’re done. Yes, that’s it. It’s literally a five to ten minute process. Those seven ingredients are basil, garlic, nuts, olive oil, salt, pepper and Parmesan cheese. Taking a tip from my girl Ina Garten, I used a mixture of pine nuts and walnuts, but you can use one or the other if preferred. Of course, freshly grated Parmesan is ideal, but I used pre-grated from Whole Foods this time because I didn’t feel like adding another step to the process (the easier the better!). The last thing I will say about pesto is that, in order to keep it looking fresh and bright, remove all air before storing in the fridge or freezer. I find that a layer of plastic wrap directly on top of the pesto before covering with a lid is the way to go.
Basil, garlic & nuts.
Time to add olive oil.
Finished.
So without further ado, my recipe for classic and simple basil pesto, to be used on anything from pasta to pizza to salad.
Happy summer and happy Friday!
Best of Basic: Basil Pesto
Serves: 8 (2 tbs per serving) Start to Finish: 10 minutes
Ingredients
2 cups Fresh Basil Leaves, packed
3 cloves Garlic, peeled and roughly chopped (use 4 cloves if you absolutely love garlic)
1/3 cup total Pine Nuts and/or Walnuts
2/3 cup Olive Oil
Sea Salt & Black Pepper, to taste (I used 1 tsp each)
1/2 cup Parmesan Cheese
To Make
Combine basil, garlic and nuts in the bowl of a food processor or blender. Pulse until fine. While food processor is on, drizzle in olive oil. Add Parmesan, pulse until smooth. Add salt and pepper to taste. Pulse until well combined.
Makes about 1 cup of pesto
Radiate Food Vibes 