Falafel Salad with Grilled Vegetables

This is what happens when Im in the mood for a new version of falafel and have been spending time lingering in Raw food blogs looking for desserts and bread substitutes I can eat. The Raw food thing intrigues me but I could never do it. Just modifying this recipe for dinner frustrated me to the point I had to tap in the fella to cook while I did dishes for awhile unmolested by the falafel that refused to blend.

The pumpkin seeds were a problem. First of all we could only fine salted and roasted pumpkin seeds which made the falafel super salty. Also pumpkin seeds are a bitch in the food processor, or at least in mine. It was not going well and when I added the rest of the sticky viscous ingredients it was even less cooperative. Eventually after much swearing (on my part) and gentle coercion (on the fellas part) we got a mixture with a nice consistency. Unlike other falafel recipes that tend to fall apart in the pan, there was no risk these doing so, once those pumpkin seeds gave it up these were some hardy balls of falafel . And aside from being too salty they were delicious. Who knew that pumpkin seeds, sun dried tomatoes and olives would go so great together.

While the fella was sweet talking the falafel mixture into submission I grilled the veggies on one of my favorite things in the kitchen, the grill pan. This is as close as I get to grilling so I would be lost at moments like these with out it.

The falafel and veggies on top of some baby spinach made for a delicious and very filling dinner. Not bad for borrowing an idea for something uncooked and turning it into a big warm salad. I am curious about the directions for an uncooked flour free tortilla and hummus made from macadamia nuts. If I can borrow a dehydrator from someone I would give his carb free breads a try.



I have no idea what sort of wine to pair with something like this so I went with what I was in the mood for. Root:1 wines from Chile are some of my favorites. The Sauvignon Blanc is a tropical fruit salad of yum. And the Cabernet is full of red fruit and spice. It isnt super complex, it just makes for good drinking when you want a big bodied red that isnt going to make you think to hard about it. My only warning is, let this bad boy open up for an hour or so before drinking. Straight from the bottle it is too tight and will punch you in the uvula, its worth the wait, I promise.

Falafel Salad with Grilled Vegetables

FALAFEL
1 cup pumpkin seeds
2 tablespoons fresh dill, finely chopped (I skipped this)
1 teaspoon ground coriander
2 teaspoons cumin
8 sun-dried tomato halves packed in oil
3 tablespoons cilantro
1 clove garlic, coarsely shopped
2 shallots, coarsely chopped
1/4 cup olives (I used black olives)
2 teaspoon oregano
Pinch cayenne
Pinch pepper
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Process all ingredients in a food processor until thoroughly mixed. This may require adding additional oil or lemon juice in order to get a consistency that will allow itself to be well blended.

Form into small flat rounds and brown on both sides in an oiled pan over medium heat. They should be warmed throughout but not over cooked.

VEGETABLES
3 tablespoons oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon salt

1 large zucchini, sliced
1 red bell pepper, sliced thin
1/2 a medium red onion, sliced
1 fresh tomato, sliced

2 cups baby spinach or mixed greens

Combine oil, lemon juice, and salt in a large bag or a bowl, marinate all the vegetables, except for the spinach, for a couple of hours. If youre short on time brush marinade on on vegetables before cooking. Heat grill pan over medium high heat and place vegetables over heat in small enough batches to prevent over crowding. Cook vegetables to your preferred level off softness and set aside until all vegetables are finished grilling.

Cover bottom of individual salad bowls with baby spinach then cover with 1/4 of the grilled vegetables and falafel. Top with hummus or a bit of toasted sesame oil if you like.

Original recipe from The Raw Chef Blog.

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Vegetarian Mexican Salad

This is me trying something new in the hopes of posting more often.

When I cook something unfortunate or something that didnt work for me Im going to post it and link to the recipe in case you want to give it a try and in the hopes youll have better luck cooking it than I did.  Maybe you will cook it and love it then tell me where I went wrong.  I make plenty of mistakes I just dont usually take the time to post about them unless they are particularly epic.

And when I make something fabulous that was amazing but the recipe was perfect Ill just do an easy cheater post and point you in the direction of the talented blogger that created it.  This Mexican salad which is a knock off of a dish at Chipotle restaurant is a perfect example.  It comes from the Healthy Irishmen Blog  where chef Gavan Murphy, and sometimes his wife, post fabulous healthy recipes using fresh organic produce.  They  have some great recipes to browse through and aside from the potato and bread dishes most of his recipes are French diet friendly.

The recipe for Vegetarian Mexican Salad is especially worth checking out.  This is the kind of salad that always looks appealing at restaurants but I never think to try to make at home where I can control the fat and salt content.  Now that I know how I will be making this beauty all summer.  The super spicy and tangy dressing is my favorite part but if you arent into breathing fire youll want to take the amount of peppers down a notch.  I also cheated to make this salad even easier by buying some jarred salsa (because the fella wont eat raw tomatoes and I was lazy), mashing an avocado on my lettuce rather than making guacamole, and then sprinkling organic canned corn and some cilantro on the salad rather than making the corn salsa. And if youre on the weight loss phase youll want to skip the corn all together since it has a high GI but there are so many other tasty things on this salad you wont be missing anything.

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Curry Glazed Chicken Legs and Walnut Apple Salsa

By now we all know Ill use any excuse to put curry on anything so curried poultry with a side of apple salsa screamed “make me now” and “oh my god perfect cold weather meal” all at the same time.  The original recipe called for duck legs which Im sure would have been delicious but Im simple and cheap so substituted in less fatty and far less pricey chicken parts with just as amazing results. 

And as the fella, the chef, and I found out before our wacky wine party last weekend this is the perfect recipe to make just before a get together because it is the gift that keeps giving.  The fella and I ate the chicken and a bit of the salsa for dinner the night before, the three of us ate the left overs, there was a gloriously large amount of salsa left over to serve the guests with some blue corn chips, and the curried chicken fat that we poured off the meat got added to a polenta the chef threw together.  Which isnt even to yet mention how amazing all of the parts of this meal were. 

The spicy tender lightly curried chicken is crispy and delicious.  The salsa is mind boggling in its greatness.  Its just spicy enough and the crisp apples mixed with the crunchy walnuts is something we all loved so much we were slapping our foreheads at not thinking of it before.  Walnut and apple salsa may be my new favorite condiment.  I cant recommend it enough.  And that polenta the spicy chicken fat went into was amazing not to mention purple.  I highly approve of all things purple.  But thats for Jacob to blog about (the polenta not my fetish for purple objects.)

 Curry Glazed Chicken Legs

4 to 6 chicken legs

3 cloves garlic

2 minced jalapeños

2 teaspoons curry powder

2 tablespoons minced ginger

1 orange, zested

Salt and pepper to taste

Extra-virgin olive oil

1/2 cup orange juice

1/2 cup lime juice (from about 4 limes)

1 cup chicken stock.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Rinse and pat the chicken legs dry with paper towels.

Using a food processor blend the garlic, jalapeños, curry, ginger, zest and a large pinch of salt and pepper. Stir in enough olive oil to make a paste, 2 to 3 tablespoons.

Rub the paste into the chicken legs, season with salt and pepper and place in a large roasting pan. Roast for 1 hour to render the fat. Lower the oven temperature to 325 degrees. Pour off the fat and reserve for another use (such as creating a spicy chicken and blue corn polenta.)

Pour the orange juice, lime juice and chicken stock over and around the duck pieces and cover the pan loosely with parchment paper or foil. Return to the oven for 45 minutes to tenderize the meat.

Transfer the chicken legs to a platter. Scrape the edges of the pan with a spoon to incorporate the caramelized bits into the juices. Strain. Taste the pan juices and adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper as needed. Keep warm. Just before serving, crisp the duck in a hot oven for 15 minutes. Spoon the pan juices over the duck legs and serve with walnut apple salsa.

Walnut Apple Salsa

1/4 cup lime juice (from about 2 limes)

2 tart apples, peeled and cored

1 small onion, finely diced

A handful of cilantro, roughly chopped

1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and minced, seeds reserved

1 poblano pepper, seeded and minced

2 tablespoons grated ginger

1 tablespoon agave nectar

Salt

1/2 cup chopped walnuts, toasted.

Pour the lime juice into a medium bowl. Finely dice the apples and toss with the onion in the juice.

Add the cilantro, peppers, ginger and agave nectar, tossing until well combined. Season with salt to taste. Add back some of the reserved jalapeño seeds to adjust heat of salsa.

Just before serving, add the walnuts.

Original recipe from New York Times Magazine.

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