Day 3- Falafel and Orange Zest Cookies

So, in all honesty I never got around to eating what I posted last night. I wound up with a bowl of coconut milk and organic cinnamon squares instead. Either which way they did serve their purpose to round out todays dinner. For the tabouli and slaw recipe see Day 2's post. 

Falafel (Cooking Light, Oxmoor House)

Prepare the sauce first ( a cool sauce is ALWAYS better and appreciated)

1.) Stir with a whisk 1 cup Greek yoghurt with 1 TBS of tahini (sesame seed paste)  and 1 good squeeze of half a lemon and dash of sea salt.  

2.) Cover and chill until ready to serve. (Easy huh?)  

Notes:


-Tahini can be hard to find but if you go to your local specialty super market they should be able to help you out.


- Greek yoghurt is thicker than traditional yoghurt, it contains less water, sodium and has way more protein. It works really well in sauces such as this one. However, it is also really good in the morning with a hint of honey and fresh seasonal fruit.  

Falafel-


1.) In a small saucepan boil 3/4 cup water, add 1/4 cup bulgur. Remove from heat, cover and let sit while your prepare the chickpeas. 


2.) Preheat your oven to 435 degrees. 

3.) Place 2 cans (15.5 oz)  of rinsed and drained chickpeas, 8 or so stems of chopped cilantro, 3 green onions, 1/2 cup of water, 2 large pinches of flour, 1 heaping TBS of cumin, 1 pinch of baking powder, a big pinch of salt, a dash of red pepper and 4 garlic cloves in a food processor. 

4.) Blend until absolutely smooth. Taste test it a few times if you aren't sure. Chickpeas can be lumpy if you don't get them ground down          completely. 

5.) Once the bulgur has absorbed most of the moisture add it to the chickpea mixture.

6.) Now, I completely failed at trying to fry these bad boys. If you are brave enough to tackle this feat, by all means go ahead.  I on the other hand wound up with a large blob of chick pea mixture. Delicious chickpea goop but goop none the less.

7.) I suggest taking a heaping 1/4 scoop and placing them on a well greased cookie sheet and baking for 10 minutes on either side. 

8.) Turn the oven down to warm while you set the table and place your pita bread in the oven to get just warm enough but not too crispy.

9.) Stuff the pockets with fresh cilantro, feta cheese (I'm a feta head and addicted, this is optional), sliced tomato and your sauce. 

10.) Enjoy grins and oohs and ahhs!

Yesterday I found at my local Goodwill a cookie press and immediately googled recipes to find spritz cookies.

 http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Spritz-Orange-Crisps/Detail.aspx

Unfortunately my press wasn't working so I ended up just blobbing the cookies on the pan and they still turned out great! Especially when dipped in milk!