Our Lenten Meal of the Day focuses on gluten-free vegan falafel with homemade hummus. Eating Mediterranean Diet foods like this was part of how I lost 100 pounds. And living a little more minimally, eating a little simpler more sustainable so others might simply live--wins for all of us. And with that in mind, remember, our recipes are endlessly adaptable to what you have on hand, personal preferences, etc. We are all about leftover use-up recipes too, That's part of living sustainably which is part of the Catholic Lenten discipline of prayer, fasting and almsgiving.
Vegan falafel platter with homemade hummus
I'm going make this Lenten Meal of the Day into a platter with all kinds of yummy, high protein, Mediterranean diet favorites. You can choose whichever of these you like or have on hand.
Gluten-free vegan falafel ingredients
1 and 1/2 to 2 cups mashed chickpeas (I'll be honest, I use canned and drained garbanzo beans because I usually have those on hand but dried chickpeas are better. Just soak them first overnight, rinse, drain and blend in food processor or blender. I'm using my blender more lately.
fresh cilantro, parsley and/or oregano one cup each minced very fine or shredded. I use the same scallion shredder I use for my homemade sushi. Or one of those herb wheels would work too. But to save time, just pop it in blender with a few drop of water. Some recipes say to remove stems but I just mince it all up. Stems are soft enough and contain a lot of the flavor.
1 garlic bulb (or minced equivalent. If you're like me, and don't have time or patience to hand mince, jarred is just fine.) Use the whole bulb, btw, not just one clove.
1/2 cup minced onion, preferably red (I'm test-driving that onion holder thingy I just bought. I'll let you know if it was worth it. Though preferred way is for my husband and partner on this blog, to dice. The most important thing is to HAVE A GOOD SHARP KNIFE and sharpen it between uses. Religiously, no pun intended).
1 T besam (gram or chickpea flour) this is a gluten-free binder.
1 T. sesame seeds (toasted preferred by me but your choice)
2 tsp. ground cumin (this is one ingredient you cannot omit. If you don't have any, let me know and I'll send you some!)
1 tsp. smoked paprika (I go back and forth on the smoked or not. There's just something so addictive about that rich campfire-y aroma I can't resist. But be careful if you use it or it will overpower every other flavor. )
Za'atar--buy premade or just mix sesame seeds, thyme, SUMAC (another of my Mediterranean diet heartthrobs) and salt. I add marjoram oregano and cumin.
1 tsp. baking soda (for poofiness, lol)
1 tsp. celery salt (or regular salt with dried minced celery leaves)
multicolored pepper to taste (this is another one that can hijack the entire dish).
cayenne pepper if desired
water and lemon juice mixed equal parts to make 5 tsp. Add slowly till ingredients are firm but not too sticky. If sticky, roll in sauteing olive oil (not extra virgin as that has too low a smoke point).
Sauteing olive oil (aka light for grilling) or avocado oil. If too expensive, vegetable or peanut oil is fine.
Roll into small balls, one inch in diameter and than flatten slightly. Drop into heated oil (about half inch in cast iron pan) Use a falafel scoop if you have one. Fry till fluffy and crispy. Serve immediately.
Homemade gluten-free vegan cumin hummus. Please, don't use store bought hummus unless you've bought it from a shop in the Middle East. Grocery store hummus is the reason people hate hummus. It is seriously so easy and cheap to make. Filling up on good fat, calorie forward foods like this is how I lost 100 pounds.
Drain one can chickpeas into blender or food processor (yeah, I know, dried and soaked are better but everyone loves my hummus with canned beans, so I'll take that shortcut.) Reserve juice and add a little back into blender. Add in about 1/4 cup lemon juice and blend till down to small chunks. Add in tahini about half cup. If you like that nutty taste and we do, you can add more but it's pretty rich and oily so don't let it take over the hummus. Next add 1 T minced garlic, 1 tsp cumin and celery salt and blend till creamy. Some recipes call for olive oil but we find it tastes greasy. And it's not necessary with the tahini which is already quite oily. Add in more reserved chickpea juice if dry. Taste occasionally and add more salt or cumin till you hit the taste you like.
Honestly, I've never seen too many hummus recipes with cumin. But mine never quite hit it for me, till I, on a whim, tossed in some cumin and BOOM! Houston, we have liftoff!
Serve with toum garlic dip. Sooooooo delicious. I tried making my own but was pretty annoyed with the poor result. Now I just let Mama Toom make it for me.
Pickled turnips And you'll need to cut the salty richness with some rainbow veggie goodness. So I recommend slice baby cucumbers, red, yellow and orange pepper strips, fresh cilantro leaves and pickled turnips. Peel and matchstick turnips and beets. Brine in fine Himalayan pink salt and set aside to dehydrate. Add celery sticks and sliced jalapeno. Cover with vinegar and soak till veggies turn pinkish purple. Some recipes call for draining out salt water. I don't. They need salt anyway and waste not want not.
Palestinian tomato cucumber or Jerusalem salad. I've seen this called harath salad too. Dice Persian (baby) cucumbers, tomatoes, scallions and or/red onions and red bell pepper. Chop Italian or flat leaf parsley. Add EVOO (extra virgin olive oil--the kind for salads and marinades) and fresh squeezed lemon. Season with sumac and mint if desired (not a fan, me). I'd substitute dill.
Salatet Malfouf This simple dish elevates purple cabbage into ambrosia. It's just shredded purple cabbage dressed in EVOO, lemon juice and dried mint. I'd add celery seed to mine cuz, that's me. You can literally binge on foods like this without guilt.
Serve with feta cheese if not eating vegan. Oh, bonus added all these recipes are kosher. Eating vegan foods like these was part of how I lost 100 pounds. Here are some more diet food swap recipes that feel decadent but aren't.
(photo courtesy of yummyporky - https://www.flickr.com/photos/yummy-porky/3835239904/, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=9840096) Forgot to take picture of mine.
