Baked Falafel

Falafel is one of our favorite foods. Unfortunately, the Mediterranean restaurant near us closed so we don't get falafels anymore without going kinda far.. I'm not sure why, but I never make falafel. The last time was at a friends house years ago... but it's SO easy! I'm definitely going to start making it more often! Plus, when you make it yourself, you can bake it and then you don't get a belly ache from greasy falafels :)

Ingredients:
1 can chickpeas
4 cloves garlic, pressed
1 small onion, chopped
1/4 cup fresh parsley
1/4 cup fresh cilantro
3 T whole wheat flour
1 tsp cumin
juice from 1/2 a small lemon
1/4 - 1/2 tsp salt

Yield: about 12 falafels

Ok, all you do, is put all of your ingredients in the food processor, until everything is well combined (don't pulse for too long otherwise you'll end up with falafel hummus..hmm...).

Then, form into balls and put onto a greased cookie sheet and bake on 375 for about 12-15 minutes each, or until they are brown!

We served these in wheat pitas with hummus, tomato, cucumber, and tahini! So good!

Then, we had Pistachio Halva. If you haven't had this stuff, it is "sesame fudge". If you like tahini, you'll love this! It's really rich and sweet. I actually didn't like it the first time I had it, but it's one of those tastes that the more you eat it, the more you love it! I took a bite of it before I took the photos, whoops :) But this way, you can see the texture in the last photo!