Wednesday, February 18, 2009

sweet potato falafel




Ok! One last post tonight! -The recipe was SO worth it!

So I spent the other night down in Santa clara with my friend Jeana, who happens to be a vegetarian...

So of course we were doing some cooking and decided to make her new favorite recipe!
It came from the blog FatFreeVegan:

And her site is totally deliscious!

Recipe:
1/2 tablespoon ground flax seeds + 2 tbsp hot water
2 medium sweet potatoes (about 18 ounces, total)
2-3 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons ground coriander
2 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
1/8 - 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (to taste)
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup minced parsleyjuice of
1 lemon
1 cup chickpea flour or besan
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
sesame seeds (optional)

Mix the flax seeds with two tablespoons hot water and set aside to thicken.

Pierce sweet potatoes several times with a fork and place on paper towels in microwave.

Microwave on high for 2 minutes, turn over, and then cook for another 2 minutes.

Check for tenderness, and if not cooked all the way through, cook in increments of 30 seconds until tender. Set aside to cool until easy to handle; peel and place in a large bowl.

Preheat oven to 400F. Mash sweet potatoes well with a masher or a fork. Add the flax mixture, seasonings (including parsley), and lemon juice and stir well. Mix the chickpea flour with the baking powder and add it a little at a time to the sweet potato mixture. Stir until well-combined. Batter should be stiff; if not, add chickpea flour a tablespoon at a time until batter is thick. (If the batter is too stiff to blend in all the flour, add water a tablespoon at a time.)

Oil a baking sheet or line it with parchment paper or silicone baking mat. Use a cookie scoop or rounded tablespoon to make about 20-22 little mounds of dough on the baking sheet (dipping the scoop in water every now and then will help prevent the dough from sticking to it). Flatten the balls to about 1/2-inch thick and 1 1/2-inches wide. Sprinkle with sesame seeds, if desired.Bake for 20-25 minutes, until bottoms are medium brown.

Serve hot with yogurt-tahini sauce. These keep well and can be reheated briefly in the microwave.

(NOTES: You can skip the flax and just add a tablespoon or two of water, nothing goes horribly wrong.
-Don't skip on spices, they are totally worth it!
-Also, I did NOT like her sauce, and therefore did not post it. Although Jeana did so I'm sure it is just my tastes
-Lastly, I would make sure the sweet potatoes are very well mashed, we did not have a masher at the apartment and therefore had clumpy falafel -not so great since nothing mixed very well)

We Served our Falafel with pita and a simple green salad. TOTALLY DELISH!

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