This is only my second recipe shared from Mellissa Sevigny of I Breathe… I’m Hungry… but as with the first one, it’s a real gem. After going over her blog for the last month or so, I think I’m going to start calling her the “Queen of Cauliflower” — she has used what is easily now one of my favorite vegetables (it hasn’t always been that way) ever in so many amazing and creative ways, that there really is no reason to not eat this superfood.
This recipe for a Faux-lafel with Tahini Sauce takes me right back to college days where I’d eat falafel several times a week and would seek out every middle eastern café in L.A. It was a mission of mine to find the best and trust me, I found more than a few that would qualify as that. Fast forward quite a few years and most falafel in these restaurants is now off limits due to the fact that most recipes call for a small amount of flour (I’ve only found a few places that don’t do this). Then there’s also the fact that I’m not eating beans any more, this makes falafel totally off limits :( Melissa has come up with a great gluten-free and even bean free version of falafel that will have anyone who loves middle-eastern food jumping for joy.
I had never thought of using cauliflower in something like falafel, but after seeing some of the other great things people are doing with it, like pizza crusts and brownies… why not? Anyhow, I can’t wait to try this and I hope you do too. I know that once I make these, I’ll be eating the entire batch in one sitting. Thank you Melissa!
…I wanted the crunchy texture of a chickpea-based falafel so I started with raw cauliflower, chopped, and then ground in the food processor. I was worried that it would be too mushy still when it cooked, so to keep the chickpea-like texture, I thought maybe ground almonds might do the trick. I used the slivered almonds you can buy in the baking section of most grocery stores and ground them to a still slightly chunky texture in my magic bullet. To that I added the classic flavorings of falafel, a little heavier on the cumin to hide any cauli-flavor. To help bind it I used coconut flour and eggs. When I formed them they held together well, but I never dredged them and I worried that they wouldn’t brown. As you can see by the picture they DID and perfectly! Super crunchy like falafel should be!…
