Falafel (with Kofta, Salad, Labneh, and Rice)

Well, my friend and I continue to up our Iftar game: last weekend I made kofta with tahini sauce and salad while she made falafel and rice. We also had some (store bought) labneh with a Sadaf yogurt dip seasoning that I could eat endlessly. I already realized that I love thick yogurt with mint, but the seasoning with labneh?! Holy smokes. I can't wait to eat it with some buttery eggs.

Our dinner was spectacular, with very low stress and total ease on our parts while cooking. We made enough to last 2 rounds of leftovers, and it feels like such a treat. While I did not make the falafel myself, I am pasting her recipe for my future preparations. She has made this several times and it is one of my fave falafel recipes - particularly because it is not a smooth paste, it is more chunky. The result is a more toothsome falafel that is also heavily herbed with cilantro and parsley, which was just so perfect on the warm weekend. I was swooning all of Iftar!

The main thing to note for this falafel (and really the best falafel, in my opinion), is to use uncooked chickpeas. Which means you need dry ones that you then soak overnight. They will expand to 3 times their size, so you need a big bowl and plenty of water. The chickpeas cook when you fry them. Yum.

 Falafel - makes 32 (or so)

• 2 c dry (uncooked) chickpeas/garbanzo beans
• 1 c chopped parsley
• 3/4 c chopped cilantro
• 1-2 minced serrano peppers (with seeds)
• 1 med onion, chopped small
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 T toasted sesame seeds (opt)
• 1 1/2 heaping tsp ground cumin  
• 1/2 tsp ground cardamom
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 3-4 T chickpea flour (or other GF flour)
• Grapeseed or Avocado oil for frying

1. Soak dry chickpeas in water for at least 8 hours overnight, up to 24 hours.
2. Grind chickpeas in a food processor until it resembles course salt/coarse breadcrumbs (not smooth).
3. Mix in all other ingredients, holding the flour.
   
4. Slowly add in flour until mixture is able to be formed into a ball w/out falling apart.
5. Form balls (or ovals) with hands (wetting hands first helps); let rest 30 minutes.
6. Deep fry or pan fry falafel until golden brown and crispy. Place on paper towel to remove excess oil and serve warm. (We did this in my wok, which worked pretty perfectly.)
   

My salad was tomatoes, parsley, cilantro, cucumber, green onions and some spinach, dressed with olive oil, lemon juice, salt and a little red wine vinegar. It was so good with the tahini sauce and seasoned labneh and the falafel. All the herbs! The fresh lemon! The kofta!

Basmati, Wild Rice, Chickpeas & Herbs

My dinner tonight was definitely inspired by my current Top Chef obsession/distraction/enjoyment. I cooked three different recipes for dinner - including one that involved lightly (GF) flouring some thinly sliced onions and frying them. Omg. They were amazing. Three dishes for one meal is very fancy, especially when cooking just for me. But totally worth it - I will make this meal, or something similar, when I am able to eat with other people again.

So - the three dishes are all sort of middle eastern themed, and two are from the Ottolenghi cookbook Jerusalem, which I have on loan. Thanks, mom. And thanks auntie Mary for buying my mom this cookbook (which I have previously pined after, along with their first cookbook, Plenty.) I made a schwarma style burger (which I actually made last night), roasted sweet potatoes with tahini sauce, and a basmati and wild rice dish with chickpeas. Yum. The rice dish was the star of the show and I kind of couldn't stop eating it. It is worth frying those onions and I made my basmati exactly as specified. (I only had parsley, and used dried dill and no cilantro. I also didn't have currants, so used raisins instead. Am including the original recipe below.)

Basmati & Wild Rice with Chickpeas, Currents & Herbs Serves 6
1/3 c wild rice
2 1/2 T olive oil
rounded 1 c basmati rice
scant 1 1/2 c boiling water
2 tsp cumin seeds
1 1/2 tsp curry powder
1 1/2 c cooked chickpeas (I used canned)
3/4 c sunflower oil (I used coconut oil with no discernible taste issues)
1 med onion, thinly sliced
1 1/2 tsp flour (I used an all purpose GF flour mix)
2/3 c currants
2 T chopped flat leaf parsley
1 T chopped cilantro
1 T chopped dill
salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. Start by putting the wild rice in a small saucepan, cover with plenty of water, bring to a boil, and leave to simmer about 40 minutes until the rice is cooked but still quite firm. Drain and set aside.
2. To cook the basmati rice, pour 1 T of olive oil into a med saucepan with a tightly fitting lid and place over high heat. Add the rice and 1/4 tsp salt and stir as you warm up the rice. Carefully add the boiling water, decrease the heat to very low, cover the pan with the lid, and leave to cook for 15 minutes.
3. Remove the pan from the heat, cover with a clean tea towel and then the lid, and leave off the heat for 10 minutes.
4. While the rice is cooking, prepare the chickpeas. Heat the remaining 1 1/2 T olive oil in a small saucepan over high heat. Add the cumin seeds and curry powder, wait for a few seconds, and then add the chickpeas and 1/4 tsp salt; make sure you do this quickly or the spices may burn in the oil. Stir over the heat for a minute or two, just to heat the chickpeas, then transfer to a large mixing bowl.
5. Wipe the saucepan clean, pour in the sunflower or coconut oil, and place over high heat. Make sure the oil is hot (a small piece of onion thrown in should sizzle vigorously). Use your hands to mix the onion with the flour to coat it slightly. Take some of the onion and carefully place it in the oil. Fry for 2-3 minites, until golden brown, then transfer to paper towels or a paper bag to drain, and sprinkle with salt. Repeat in batches until all of the onion is fried.
6. Finally, ass both types of rice to the chickpeas and then add the currants, herbs, and fried onion. Stir, taste, and add salt and pepper as you like. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Schwarma burger with Tahini-"yogurt" sauce (my "yogurt" was lemon juice & coconut milk)

Labneh, Beet Hummus, and Chrispy Chickpeas

Seasonal Middle Eastern Appetizers! That is what I decided to make when I hosted my aunties for a family sing. My talented friend teaches rounds and 3 and 4 part harmonies like nobody's business, and has a vast repertoire of traditional songs from all over the world. So. Many. Songs. It does my heart good to have a person like this in my life. Lately I want to host continual and non-stop sings. ha!

So. Singing to feed the heart and soul, and Labneh with cranberries, Beet Hummus, and Chrispy Chickpeas to feed the belly. I was in Iowa City two weeks ago and basically swooned from the Labneh at Oasis Falafel. OMG. I really had not thought much of labneh before. I'd had it, but it seemed nothing to fuss about. Now, there is life with labneh. And it is really easy. Like, so easy you are not doing anything but waiting.

Labneh
32 oz plain full fat yogurt

Labneh with Za'ater

3/4 tsp salt
cheesecloth

Mix salt into yogurt. Spread out cheesecloth over a plate or colander. Pour/spoon yogurt into center of cheesecloth. Tie ends onto your faucet over the sink (or hang somewhere else, or put cheesecloth in a colander over another bowl) and let drip for 24-36 hours. Eat! Keep in a covered container in the fridge for a couple of weeks. Top with cranberry sauce (follows) or dukkah, or olive oil and za'ater. Eat with veggies, crackers, pita, falafel, kubideh, salad, etc.
*Some people put lemon juice in with yogurt too, I will try that next time. I left mine for about 28 hours and had pretty thick yogurt to start out with. Your labneh texture can be softer or more firm depending on how long you let the whey drip off.

Cranberries to go atop Labneh (title links to original recipe)

Overly thick cranberries!

2 c fresh cranberries
1/2 c sugar
1 T lemon juice
Zest of 1 lemon
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cardamom
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 jalapeno, minced (opt)

Put all ingredients into heavy pot over medium-high heat. Once it is boiling, lower heat and cook until cranberries pop. (I left mine too long and it got pretty thick - but still tasty!)

Crispy Chickpeas (suggested amount - make however much you want)
1 1/2 c cooked or 1 can chickpeas
1 T olive oil
1 tsp salt
1-2 tsp herbs/spices

These do not keep long - they get chewy as they sit out, and are best right out of the oven. The main thing to know is to dry your chickpeas well, which I have done using a dish towel. This time I made my own chickpeas for the first time in a long while (think my vegetarian days in the early 2000s), cheaper and tasty. Heat oven to 400. Stir dry chickpeas on a sheet pan with the olive oil and salt so that all of them are coated. Bake for 20-25 minutes until crispy on the outside, shaking or stirring the pan once or twice as they cook. Sprinkle spices over the top (I made za'atar and it was delicious). 

Roasted Garlic Beet Hummus

1 large beet
head of garlic
2 c (or 1 can) chickpeas
2 T tahini
1-2 T olive oil
Juice from 1/2 lemon
1-2 tsp sea salt

1) Wrap beet in foil. Roast it and head of garlic (I removed the outer paper only) in a 350 degree oven for about an hour until beet is tender. Remove and let cool. Peel skin off of beet and unpeal garlic cloves. I used about 7 cloves in the hummus, and mixed the rest in eggs the next morning.
2) Mix ingredients in a food processor until smooth. *For a super smooth, creamy hummus you need to have one of those vita-mix type mixers. Maybe an immersion blender would do it too?