Eat-a Pita

Living away from my parents, one thing that I miss is my mom's amazing cooking.  She always made delicious dinners and this is part of what has inspired me to cook.  One recipe my mom sometimes made was falafel.  I asked for for the recipe and attempted to make them myself, with a little spin on it...

Yup...that's the falafel in the waffle maker!  I read about cooking falafel this way and decided to give it a try.  It was a part failure part success.

Failure: The consistency of the falafel was not the best for the waffle maker. The first few attempts crumbled and fell apart.

Success: By the third attempt, the falafel came out perfectly! Key to success...do not flatten the falafel mixture into the waffle maker. Pile it on!  Another success was the flavor.  The falafel (if I do say so myself) turned out delicious! Just like mom used to make. 

Ingredients:
1 can chick peas

2 garlic cloves

1/4 cup dry bread crumbs (I used panko)

1/4 cup chopped cilantro

1 1/2 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp ground red pepper

1 large egg

a little bit of lemon juice

This is what the mixture looked like after the blender.

Instructions for waffle maker:

-Turn on waffle maker

-Place all ingredients into food processor and blend until smooth.

-Put generous portions of mixture into waffle maker (I divided the micture into 4 portions) and heat until golden.

Instructions for pan frying:

-Place all ingredients into food processor and blend until smooth.

-Divide mixture into 16 balls.

-Heat 1 tbl of olive oil in skillet (or use Pam). Cook until browned (about 5 minutes each side).

To go with the falafel, I had an Israeli salad (chopped tomaotes, cucumber, feta, and balsamic dressing), pita, and humus.  You can either make a falafel sandwich or eat the falafel on a salad.