FRIDAY, MAY 8TH, 2009
3 stars (out of 5 - well, it's falafel! But with great sauce)
Today I decided that I would try an old school meal (with new, improved twists of course). I used to eat falafel all of the time during my early undergrad years, so I thought I would give it a try again. I was inspired by a great recipe (and accompanying pic) in a recipe book I recently discovered (okay, I've started watching too much Project Runway when I start talking about my cooking "inspirations"!). The sauce for the falafel wrap looked very appealing, so I thought I would try to "make it work".
Ingredients:
1 package falafel*
Oil (to cook)
1 medium avacodo*
1 medium tomato
1/2 cup mayo
1 tsp lemon juice
1/4 cup red onion (to your taste)
Chopped lettuce
Large pitas*
*{Note. For two wraps worth of falafel, add 1/2 cup cold water to 1 cup of falafel. It was only me tonight, so I halved the recipe, which made enough for two wraps. I also bought medium pita pockets by accident (see adaptation below), but really recommend large pitas if you want everything to fit inside!}
1. First, I added the falafel and water (according to the package), and let it set for 10 minutes.
3 stars (out of 5 - well, it's falafel! But with great sauce)
Today I decided that I would try an old school meal (with new, improved twists of course). I used to eat falafel all of the time during my early undergrad years, so I thought I would give it a try again. I was inspired by a great recipe (and accompanying pic) in a recipe book I recently discovered (okay, I've started watching too much Project Runway when I start talking about my cooking "inspirations"!). The sauce for the falafel wrap looked very appealing, so I thought I would try to "make it work".
Ingredients:
1 package falafel*
Oil (to cook)
1 medium avacodo*
1 medium tomato
1/2 cup mayo
1 tsp lemon juice
1/4 cup red onion (to your taste)
Chopped lettuce
Large pitas*
*{Note. For two wraps worth of falafel, add 1/2 cup cold water to 1 cup of falafel. It was only me tonight, so I halved the recipe, which made enough for two wraps. I also bought medium pita pockets by accident (see adaptation below), but really recommend large pitas if you want everything to fit inside!}
1. First, I added the falafel and water (according to the package), and let it set for 10 minutes.
After 10 minutes, this should be about the consistency:
2. As it was setting, I "smooshed" the avacodo in a medium bowl.
3. I then added the lemon juice and mayo, and stirred everything until it was fairly smooth.
4. I then added the coursely choopped tomato, and the finely chopped red onion.
5. I stirred everything together very well.
6. As I was mixing everything up, I heated some oil in a frying pan over medium heat. It was so much oil! I basically had to coat the pan.
7. I then added the falafel balls to the hot oil. I tried to make them fairly small, as they tend to get dry in the centre.
8. After they cooked for about 3 minutes, I flipped them over and cooked them on the other side. Note, it is not recommended to flip over your falafel after you have just washed (and not dried) your hands. Apparently the oil/water combo doesn't mix so well and you end up with burns (and oil) all over. Pleasant.
9. I then placed the falafel balls on a paper towel to try to absorb some of the oil. It's kinda gross how much oil was absorbed from the pan.
10. I had bought pita pockets, and they weren't big enough, so I opened up the pocket and then used it as a giant roll. I first spread some of the avacodo/mayo mix on it (quite thick... it tastes good!).
11. I then added some chopped lettuce...
12. ... topped by the falafel (and extra sauce for good measure).
13. I rolled everything up and hoped for the best!
Overall, I enjoyed the flavour of falafel, but it's just so greasy that I felt kinda bad/gross about eating it. I guess it's nice once in a while. However, I really liked the avacodo spread and thought it was a fantastic compliment to the falafel (and am wondering what else I could pair it with...).
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