Fava-Bean Falafel -- made balanced in Omega-3s, of course!
Falafel are omnipresent starters or appetizers in Egypt and I was intrigued, when traveling there, to discover that they were made with dried fava beans rather than chickpeas. So I tried making them the other night using dried fava beans I had purchased at Kalustyans in NYC. They came out beautifully and were a bright, spring-like green inside. I fried them in canola oil, of course, and served them with tahini sauce and a salad and pita bread. A nice vegetarian dinner.
Ingredients:
- 1/2 pound dried fava beans
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 small red onion, finely chopped
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin or more to taste
- 1 heaping tablespoon flaxseed meal
- 1 tablespoon parsley, finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon chopped cilantro (optional)
- juice of half a lemon
- salt to taste
Directions
- Soak the dried fava beans in abundant water for 24 hours.
- Drain well and put in a cuisinart with the baking soda, chopped onion, cumin, hot pepper, flaxseed meal, parsley, cilantro and lemon juice until it has the consistency of a coarse paste (not entirely smooth).
- Let the mix sit for half an hour, then add salt to taste.
- Form small, patties about 1/2 to 3/4 inch thick out of the fava bean mixture and fry them in abundant oil for about five minutes each.
- Drain on a paper towel and serve warm.
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