Weekend Carnivore

By now, Weekend Carnivore readers, are probably figuring out that I have a thing for Middle Eastern type foods. Which is fairly amazing since I am sure when I was a little girl growing up in the Pennsylvania Dutch region of the United States I wouldn’t have been able to name any Middle Eastern dishes much less crave them.

Such a taste bud transformation has to be at least partially attributed to having moved to London. The wonderful mix of cultures that live, largely in peace, in London means that there is always food from a different culture to try. If you have ever heard that food in the UK is bad, then I am here to tell you that it is a flat out untruth. The UK in general, and London in particular, is packed solid with food from all over the world. So, even if I thought there was anything bad about traditional British food (which I don’t..who doesn’t like a good sticky toffee pudding ?!?) there would be enough world cuisine to more than make up for it.

When I first started to commute into London, the office where I worked was right next to a falafel joint. One day, I tried falafel for lunch and I then went through a period of trying fafafel joints around the city. Most that I tried were really good but my favourite was a place near Goodge Street station that put a stunning creamy garlic sauce on top.

As good as all that falafel tasted, it simply wasn’t good for the waistline and when I started to eat a healthier diet I stopped eating it. That was, until I discovered that I could make my own baked version of falafel at home. By using a baked falafel recipe rather than frying it, I was still able to get the yummy taste of a falafel sandwich without the fat.

I have tweaked various falafel recipes over time but have finally settled on this baked falafel recipe. In my attempt to get close to the yummy creamy garlic sauce from the past, I have put together a tahini and yoghurt dressing to go on top. It uses a mixture of fat free Greek yoghurt and light creme fraiche to keep the sauce diet friendly. If you can’t get creme fraiche you could just as easily use a reduced fat sour cream.

So, now when I get flashbacks to my falafel period, I reach for my baked falafel recipe and I can even go heavy on the dressing without worry too much about the calorie count. Plus, this baked falafel recipe is packed with some many vegetables that it isn’t just tasty and low fat but down right healthy too.

Baked falafel pitas with tahini yoghurt dressing

Baked falafel recipe

Ingredients:

For Falafel:

2 (400g/14 ounce) cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 onion, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
1 garlic clove, chopped
1 teaspoon ground corriander (cilantro)
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 cup fresh parsley
oil, for brushing
6 pita breads
1 head lettuce
1/2 cucumber, sliced

For Tahni Yoghurt Dressing:

2 tablespoons fat free Greek yoghurt
2 tablespoons reduced fat creme fraiche or sour cream
1 1/2 tablespoons tahni
1 clove garlic, minced (I grate mine with a microplane)
1 teaspoon lime juice
1 tablespoon fresh corriander, chopped

Directions

1. Turn the grill/broiler to medium.
2. Tip the chickpeas into a food processor or blender with the onion, carrots, garlic, cilantro, cumin, parsley and salt and pepper to taste.
3. Whizz briefly so that you retain some of the chunky texture to the chickpeas.
4. Using your hands, shape the mixture into six burgers.
5. Brush both sides of each burger with a little oil.
6. Carefully place the burgers on to a grill/broiler pan lined with foil and grill/broil for 5 minutes on each side.
7. Meanwhile, toast the pita breads and tear the lettuce into strips.
8. Mix the dressing ingredients together in a bowl.
9. Stuff the hot burgers into the pita breads.
10. Add a small handful of torn lettuce and a few slices of cucumber.
11. Spoon over the dressing and enjoy.