Monday, June 29, 2009

Grilled Falafal & Veggie Wrap




These pictures aren't very good, I really need a better camera, but you can get the idea of what the falafel wrap looked like cut in half. I broke out a book I bought during the holidays called The New Vegetarian Grill, Revised Edition: 250 Flame-Kissed Recipes by Andrea Chesman . The book has everything from individual grilled veggies to sandwich's and noodle dishes. It's pretty neat since our bbq will be in use for the rest of the summer. It's been about 100 degrees or hotter out and with weather like that we eat later and don't want anything to heavy.
My first recipe was the Grilled Falafels. These were so very easy to make and pretty tasty too! I sprayed them with olive oil before I put them on the grill, they held together great. I then grilled up, sweet potato, sweet onion, red bell pepper and zucchini. Sliced some tomato and avocado. For the tahini dressing I made the one from VCON but halved the recipe, I didn't have fresh dill so I just added a little bit of dried. Then I wrapped some rice tortillas in foil and heated them up on the bbq for a few minutes. Rice tortillas worked perfect for this because they don't get soggy like a flour tortilla. You can obviously use pita to if you wish. Assembling: I smothered a rice tortilla with tahini dressing, then on one side I layered the falafel and veggies then folded over, cut in half and served with a salad. One half of the falafal wrap was the perfect amount of food but the whole wrap would be fine if you are a bit hungrier and it still wouldn't weight you down.
Below are my changes to the recipe taken from:
Falafel
recipe from The New Vegetarian Grill by Andrea Chesman
3 C. cooked chickpeas (or two 15oz. cans), drained
4 slices sandwich bread, sprouted whole grain
8 scallions, trimmed and chopped
1/4 C. chopped fresh cilantro
1/4 C chopped fresh parsley
3 garlic cloves
2 tsp. ground cumin
]1 tsp ground coriander
1/4 tsp ground red chile pepper (I used flaked chile pepper) or to taste
s& p
2 T. Olive oil
Puree the chickpeas and bread in a food processor. Scrape into to a large bowl. Then puree the scallions, cilantro, parsley and garlic. Add to the chickpea mixture along with the spices. Mix thoroughly adding olive oil. Use your hands to completely mix if needed.
Form the mixture into patties about 2 1/2 inches in diameter. Brush with olive on both sides or use a spray olive oil/canola oil like I did.
Heat the grill or bbq up to a medium heat, about 375. Grill the falafel about 4 minutes on each side, just until grill marks and cooked through.
Note: I think the recipe calls for the bread because it helps bind the ingredients together so they don't fall apart on the bbq.

5 comments:

  1. I love falafel sandwiches/pitas! What ingredients were in the falafels ---are they the usual authentic falafels, or some different recipe? I've never tried a rice tortilla before,sounds good! :)

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  2. This sounds like it was made for me in mind- Two of my all-time favorite things are roasted/grilled veggies and falafel! Oh, I'm drooling over here... Must make something like this asap!

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  3. I added the recipe with a bit of adjustments that I made to it. The addition of bread to this recipe helps to keep the ingredients together while grilling.

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  4. I loooove falafel! Nom nom nom! :)

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