Five years ago, I was a vegetarian. It was honestly not hard at all. I lost my taste for meat. If I could live without eating animals, I would. This did cause a slight problem though: I got really skinny. Like, 100 pounds on a good day skinny. Apparently I should have researched what to eat when cutting meat out of your diet.
So to solve the problem, I went with the quick fix: eating meat again. I didn’t particularly like the taste of meat, but if it would keep me healthy, ok. Lets do it.
My favorite food to eat while I was a vegetarian were falafels. I could eat those for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Chickpeas are one of my favorite foods (I do have a lot of favorite food) and I put them in almost everything.
So when I was craving some falafel the other day, guess what I didn’t have in my house? So, experimenting with what I DID have lying around…
These turned out very good. And what’s better? They are baked, so they are healthier than the fried alternative. But that doesn’t make them any less tasty.
Ingredients:
-1/4 cup chopped onions
-3 cloves garlic, minced
-2 cups canned fava beans, drained (green broad beans)
-1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
-1 teaspoon ground cumin
-1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
-1/4 teaspoon salt
-1/4 teaspoon baking soda
-1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
-1 egg, beaten
Directions:
1. Heat a skillet on medium heat, and fry the garlic and onions until the onions are transparent, around 4 minutes. Set aside.
2. Combine the fava beans, parsley, cumin, coriander, salt and baking powder in a food processor until coarsely pureed. Mix in the flour, egg and onion mixture. Shape into balls.
3. Preheat the oven to 400˚F
4. Place the falafel balls on a greased baking sheet. Bake for around 10 minutes, or until golden
Thank you for posting the fava bean baked falafel recipe.
I’ve been looking for this recipe since forever! LOL. 😀
I’d like to invite you to submit the pictures of your fava bean baked falafel to http://www.foodporn.net so other chefs can make the same creation. 🙂
You know it’s fun to make others hungry. 😀
Can’t wait for your recipe. 😀
This sounds like an awesome recipe. One that I must bookmark!
I love falafel, especially if it is baked! I have never experimented with using other types of beans but those look great.
Looks delicious…I love falafel with pita bread! This one looks nice.
I myself haven't gone completely vegetarian since my husband is a carnivore and it would to much to have to cook so many different meals a day, but he has agreed on a few nights a week. Gonna try to squeeze this one past him, they sound and look delicious. Thanks for sharing!
I'm not much of a meat eater either (I'm having the same weight issue though!), and I love falafels! Maybe I'll just have them with a side of steak. 🙂
i've never made falafel, i definitely need to try! yours sounds so delicious!
Dear Cathleen, This sound delicious. I love all the flavors in this dish, therefore I know I would enjoy it! Blessings my dear, your friend, Catherine xo
I've made felafel once before and although I loved it and thought it was great, it was so much work. I love your quick and easy version. By the way, I was reading your pancake post the other day and totally relate to toasted pancakes. They are good aren't they? Glad you discovered this secret and won't be tossing leftover pancakes anymore. 🙂
Haven't tried this yet but this looks definitely delicious !
Yum! I've never made my own falafel. These look delicious!
It is good to eat healthy and I realize most of your posts are very healthy dish! You can opt out meat but fish is a good way to take as an option.
Absolutely love it. yummy.
– Meg's Delicious Adventures
This looks so delicious! A healthy dish that I love! 🙂
Hi Cathleen.. thanks for stopping by my space and leaving a lovely comment..happy to follow you..
http://jopreet.blogspot.com/
I am a huge obsessee with falafel my friend, this looks too delicious 😀
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
thats very very yummy.. love it
Yum, I just added that to my recipe box…I absolutely LOVE falafel!
Those look so good–I love felafel, and this is a fun variation. I also spent several years as a vegetarian, but with the opposite problem–I gained a bunch of weight!
This is an absolute smacker dish! Even I bake falafels and its amazing that they taste great even without frying. Great for veg wraps. These look absolutely delicious!
Yay for fava beans! These falafel sound amazing! I can't say I've lost much weight solely from becoming vegetarian…all the baking cancels out any fewer calories that I eat!
I never thought to make falafel with fava beans- what a great idea!
This looks and sounds delish. Thank you for sharing xo
Nice alternative to the deep fried snacks! Looks good!