Falafel Stuffed Pitas with Tahini Sauce
Question: What do you get when you change the serving size of Peppermint Crunch Holiday Drizzle Kettle Corn from six servings to one serving per bag?
Question: What do you get when you make the mistake of buying more than one package of Sea Salt and Black Pepper Dark Chocolate? Every time you go to the store.
Question: What do you get when all the gingerbread is gone but there is a full Tupperware of extra cream cheese frosting in the fridge, you get some disappointing news, no one else is home, you have a drawer full of spoons and a really heart-wrenching episode of Parenthood (read: every. single. one.) on the DVR beckoning you.
Anyone?
Answer: You falafel.
I’ll be here all week.
Don’t forget to tip your wait staff.
(Hint: I hear they’re into kettle corn and salt and pepper chocolate and still need Season 3 of Parenthood on iTunes.)
Falafel Stuffed Pitas with Tahini Sauce
Adapted from Cooking Light
Serves 4
***View Nutrition Facts***
- 1/4 c. oat flour (grind your own with old-fashioned oats)
- 1/4 c. chopped cilantro
- 1 1/2 t. ground cumin
- 1/2 t. salt
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 2 t. fresh lemon juice
- 1 organic egg or 1 flax egg (3 T. ground flax + 1 T. water, whisked)
- One 15-oz. can chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained
Sauce:
- 1/2 cup plain non-dairy or organic yogurt
- 2 T fresh lemon juice
- 2 T. tahini
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- salt and pepper to taste
Remaining ingredients:
- 4 (6-inch) whole wheat pitas, cut in half
- 8 curly leaf lettuce leaves
- sliced tomatoes
To prepare falafel, place first 8 ingredients in a food processor; process mixture until smooth. Divide mixture into 8 equal portions, and shape each portion into a 1/4-inch-thick patty. Heat a small amount of oil or cooking spray in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the patties, and cook 5 minutes on each side or until patties are browned.
To prepare sauce, combine yogurt, lemon juice, tahini, and 1 garlic clove, stirring mixture with a whisk. Season to taste. Spread about 1 1/2 tablespoons tahini sauce into each pita half. Fill each pita half with 1 lettuce leaf, tomato slices, and falafel.
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Okay, so these look delicious! I love falafel but have never attempted to make it myself. It seems easy though! Thanks for sharing Sarah!
It’s super easy! Hope you give it a try, Lauren.
Oh Sarah, you’re killing me over here! It actually took me a minute to ‘get it’. Oh dear, it’s been a loooong day! Mmmm, now I’m craving falafels
It’s not you. It’s me and how admittedly lame that joke was.
LOL, well regardless, I needed that little chuckle… I’m always up for a lame joke
HAHAHA it took me a while to get it – so sad on my part! We need to eat cream cheese frosting & watch Parenthood together. Just cause
The servings on the bags of chocolate covered popcorn are obviously wrong! And these look aaaaamazing and simple. I can’t wait to try!
Serving size, shmerving size.
hehehe i didn’t get it till after reading christa’s comment. good one, mama pea!
Do you know what the word “good” means?
I still don’t get it.
I keep saying “you falafel” out loud and I still am not following.
Can I blame it on pregnancy brain?
Next week’s Parenthood looks reeeediculous, even by their heart-wrenching standards.
Yes, I am going to need meds.
You feel full? Is that it?
You feel awful. Wahn wahhhh.
Oh whoa. I never would have gotten that-but thanks for explaining Mama Pea!
Sea salt and black pepper dark chocolate?? What the? You’ve been holding out on me! Maybe that is the soother for the pistachio charred tongue.
Okay, Parenthood…my heart can’t take it anymore! (A lot of times I want to punch Sarah Braverman in the face though. She makes me so mad!!!)
It’s at Trader Joe’s (of course) and it’s stupid good. Don’t you lay a finger on Sarah Braverman. Though I’m okay if you want to give old Zeke a swift kick in the….
I wish you lived closer. These look amazing!
mg i think i cry every parenthood episode! and i cant wait to try these i never attempt to make my own falafel but i loveee it!
You can do it. It’s a piece of cake!
Yum! I’ve failed miserably at making my own falafel in the past (mostly because I simply cannot master the art of pan-frying). BUT perhaps this recipe will be the life-changer. Yes, I consider successful falafel life-changing.
I love it when you talk GF falafel to me. You’re the best.
PS – I’m determined to watch the first three seasons of Parenthood over my Christmas break. I’m so ambitious.
Do it.
I visited Israel a while ago and had a hard time finding vegan food so I ate falafel almost every day. The first falafel I ate was absolutely fabulous! The second one was good. The third one was… well…. let’s just say…. I falafel….
Ha ha ha! Now that is how you deliver a joke!
Oh how I love falafel! as always, you rock! thank you
I had the same issue with the kettle corn bag earlier this week; glad to see I’m not the only one who disagrees with the serving size! Merry Christmas to you and your family.
Thanks, Sara. And to you and yours!
Hahaha, I always enjoy a good pun. And I hear you on the Parenthood thing – I’m pretty sure I’ve never gotten through an episode with dry eyes. And now that the holiday commercials are in full swing… well turning on the TV is just dangerous.
These look wonderful! Have never tried making my own falafel, but need to with this recipe!
Hehe good one Mama Pea!! I’m currently on a trip for work and today’s running around took way longer than expected. We finally sat down for lunch at Whole Foods at 4pm and falafels were in my container from the salad bar. After a 5 hour flight, a terrible cab driver, having to ship 5 huge banners at a sketchy local shipping store, and being locked out of our event venue, these ones made me fal-amazing!
Well played, Angela, well played.
I have to try this recipe. It looks amazing!
Lucky winners. I hope there are some more giveaways in the near future.
Yum – I was just craving your falafel (from the cookbook) last night but didn’t have the ingredients…nor the time after my lovely 1.5 hour commute home. Lovely.
Here is a big hug to hopefully aid in healing with the disappointing news. Thanks for the warning on that kettle corn…it woos me but I haven’t taken the plunge…yet! Have a great weekend!
Thanks for catching that, Christine. What a friend! I know it’s all part of a bigger plan & He’s weaving it all together for our good.
I hope you have a sweet weekend.
I love falafel, but I only attempted making them once…and they were a miserable failure. Of course, I tried to fry them, and frying and I are not friends. I might have to try again. They look delicious.
I have yet to try falafel since I’ve heard it’s so unhealthy at restaurants, but I will definitely be giving this a whirl.
Thanks for sharing!
Mmmmm…falafel!
Trader Joe’s can be a seriously dangerous place this time of year. I mean they even have chocolate cheese!
I have yet to see that. Oh goodness.
If you have Amazon Prime you can watch ALL of the Parenthoods for FREE
Not that I am obsessively watching 3 or 4 episodes each night…that would be wrong. I haven’t tried the peppermint kettle corn, but I burned through a dark chocolate sea salt bag pretty quickly.
Can we eat these when we have our tea party afternoon?
I need this recipe now! Falafel is something I love but never seem like making it myself.
Congrats to you and Lori on your book! So very cool. <3
I am so making these! I thought I lost your book this weekend and was devestated.
luckily it was found. Apparently my 3 year old decided to do some rearranging.
Oooh, yum!! *pinning*
Thanks!!
I cannot wait to make these! I’ve always wanted to make Falafal myself but never have! This seems easy enough! Crossing my fingers my girls will try it too…they will be happy to eat pita bread, if anything! ha! What did your girls think?
They both loved them! They are very mild yet flavorful. Hope you all enjoy!
Those look so good! Do you think the yogurt sauce would work good with greek yogurt? I have been enjoying that yogurt lately.
Also, I was wondering if it was just me or if when you scroll to the very bottom of the comments on this post, do you see a teeny tiny smiley face? I thought it was dirt (or food… that tends to happen more often than i’d like to admit) on my computer screen, but it wasn’t… it was really just a little smiley face! Funny!
Yes, Greek yogurt would work great. I don’t see a smiley face! A little green leaf, maybe?
I see the green leaf, but in the very center when it is scrolled to the very bottom of the page there is a teeny smiley face
Maybe it is just my computer being wonky.
I totally just tried this and saw the smiley face too!
these look goooooooood!
happy saturday, mama
I’ve never seen a falafel recipe made with oat flour, or Tahini sauce made with yogurt (though it sounds like a brilliant idea to make it lighter and more tangy). I wonder which middle eastern region this inspiration stems from. I’ve heard of some cultures putting yogurt in babaganoush before. Do you have any idea? Falafel in all of it’s forms is always a good thing in my opinion! Yum yum!
Hey Sarah,
I’ve got an award for you over at my blog http://www.skinny-vegan-food.com/2012/12/one-lovely-blog-award.html
Feel free to play along or ignore it if you want!
Love & smiles xxx
I always thought falafel was some “mysterious, only made by someone else, served in a restaurant….type food! This recipe looks so easy and yummy, definitely adding to the weekly menu, thanks
I hope you do give it a try, Rene. It’s super easy and you’ll love it!
Easy and delicious! I went with a garlicky tzatziki sauce because I didn’t feel like buying tahini- love the felafel recipe and the idea, though!
We made this tonight, and the whole family loved it! Thanks!
I love falafels and yours look delicious, so they are must try.
But I’m always looking to cut down on carbs, so all my other falafel recipes are ones that taste great when they are roasted in the oven.
Which takes me to the million $$ question, have you tried making them in the oven and how were they.??
Video of tahini factory
http://youtu.be/a098ywH6DfQ