Last night we had homemade falafels, hummus, tahini dressing with pita bread, tomatoes and cucumbers. Sooo yummy. And a big green salad.
I adapted the Minimalist Baker’s recipe for the falafels & tahini dressing, used Love & Lemon’s recipe for the hummus, and loosely adapted Cookie & Kate’s recipe for a quick pickled onion.
It was all so dang good.
And it was almost totally plastic free. The pita bread came in a plastic bag, which we add to a bag of bags & eventually recycle. The tahini sauce comes in a metal container with a small plastic lid. I’ve also gotten it in a glass jar but that also often has a small piece of plastic around the lid.
You could make your own tahini with sesame seeds from bulk & sesame oil (which we can’t get in bulk but do have in a glass container).
And we could’ve used chickpeas from bulk bins but just used canned instead. Cans are fairly valuable recyclables, so I don’t feel guilty about that convenience.
Okay, onward to the recipes!
ALSO – a shopping list is at the end of this recipe. You’re welcome 😊.
Baked Falafels
(adapted from Minimalist Baker’s recipe):
-1 can of chickpeas
-1/3 c fresh chopped parsley
-4 cloves of garlic, minced
-2 medium shallots (I used 3/4c chopped white onion instead)
-2T raw sesame seeds
-1.5t cumin
-1/4t each salt & pepper
-3-4T flour
-oil for coating baking sheet & brushing on falafels
Preheat oven to 400F
Step 1: Add everything except the flour & oil to a food processor or blender & mix until you get a crumbly dough.
Step 2: Slowly add flour, 1T at a time, until your dough starts to stick together & can be formed into patties without being super sticky.
Step 3: Brush a large baking sheet with olive oil. Form dough into same-sized flat patties (you decide how large or small you’d like them). Place the patties onto the baking sheet & brush a little oil over the top of each pattie.
Step 4: Bake until golden brown on bottom (about 5-7 minutes, depending on the size), then carefully flip the patties & bake about 5 more minutes.
Hummus!
They call it “the BEST” and I’d have to agree it’s pretty dang good!
Ingredients:
-1 15oz can of chickpeas, drained & rinsed (they cooked their own, but we took the shortcut!)
-⅓ cup tahini
-2T olive oil
-2T (or more) fresh lemon juice
-1 clove of garlic
-½ t salt
-5T (or more) water for blending
-(optional) paprika and/or parsley for garnish
Step 1: Add everything except the water & garnishes to a high speed blender & blend.
Step 2: Add water, a little at a time, until you get the smoothness you want.
Step 3: Transfer to a bowl, add optional garnishes. Done!
So yummy! I need to remember to make this every week but I never do.
Tahini dressing
Ingredients
-⅓ c tahini
-about 3T lemon juice
-1-2T maple syrup
-pinch of sea salt
-(optional) minced garlic – I always leave this out due to laziness, but it’s probably delish.
-water to thin
Step 1: put all ingredients except water in a bowl, whisk until smooth.
Step 2: add water slowly until you get the desired consistency (I like it thin enough to drizzle over the pitas).
Quick pickled onions:
Ingredients
-½ or more of an onion (white or red, whichever you have on hand will work), thinly sliced
-1/2c water
-1/4c white vinegar
-1/4c apple cider vinegar (or more white vinegar, if you don’t have apple cider vinegar)
-1.5T maple syrup or agave
-1.5t salt
Step 1: put everything in a small pot & heat until it simmers. NOTE: I forgot to do this step, and they still turned out delish, so in a pinch, just put everything straight into a jar.
Step 2: add the onions & liquid mixture to a jar, let sit for about 30 minutes.
Putting it all together
We toasted the pita bread & then put the falafels in the pitas with hummus, chopped cucumbers/lettuce/tomatoes/olives & pickled onions, then drizzled the tahini on top.
So yummy! This meal is a new go-to in our weekly meal plan.
Here’s your low waste, plant-based shopping list:
Dry goods
-Pita bread
-2 cans chickpeas
-tahini
-black olives
Produce
-lemons
-parsley
-cucumber
-tomatoes
-red or white onions (optional: shallots too)
-garlic
-lettuce
Seasonings/Pantry
-maple syrup or agave
-white vinegar
-apple cider vinegar
-sesame seeds
-cumin
-Salt & pepper
-olive oil
-flour
Most of this should be available plastic-free in a local store (New Leaf & Staff of Life in Santa Cruz, for example), either in bulk or a recyclable can &/or glass jar. Pita bread is the one ingredient that you might end up getting in a plastic bag.
Let me know if you make this too!
Xo,
Liz