Carrot and Quinoa Falafels with Minted Yoghurt
Serves: 4
Time: 30 mins
These tasty little falafels are a fabulous way to sneak some more veg into your meal. They are super fresh tasting once rolled inside a lovely crispy lettuce leaf and topped with the yoghurt salad. It’s a really easy dinner to eat outdoors - a no fuss meal without the dishes - simply roll and eat (although napkins are essential as these can get messy).
Leftovers
Lunch for tomorrow is exactly the same as dinner so this meal could work for 4 people.
What you'll need
3 large carrots
1/2 cup of quinoa
1/2 bunch of coriander
1 small iceberg lettuce or baby cos lettuce
1 cup of greek yoghurt
1/2 bunch of mint
2 tomatoes
1 small cucumber
1/2 a lemon
From the pantry
1/2 cup of besan flour or any flour of your choice
1 teaspoon of baking powder (they will work without if you don’t have any)
1 teaspoon ground cumin or cumin seeds
1/2 teaspoon of ground coriander
coconut oil
sea salt and pepper
Prep and Cook
Prep Falafels
Cook quinoa - I find that smaller quantities tend to cook a bit differently so…Rinse your quinoa really well under cold water. Place in a small pot along with 1 1/2 cups of water and a pinch of salt, pop the lid on and bring up to the boil. Turn down to a simmer and continue to cook until the water has almost completely absorbed. Turn off the heat and allow it to steam with the lid still on.
Peel and then grate carrots into a mixing bowl.
Wash coriander and rough chop then add to the mixing bowl along with the eggs, cumin seeds, flour and season really well. Don’t mix these ingredients yet.
Wash Lettuce
Peel off any bad looking leaves.
Fill a clean sink with cold water and peel the iceberg leaves off into the water.
Give them a good wash then remove and lay out on a clean dry tea towel.
Cool Quinoa
Take the lid off quinoa and give it a good stir to let out the heat. Don’t be too concerned if it doesn’t look perfect.
Mix Yoghurt
Wash and pick mint leaves, then roughly chop and place in a small bowl.
Slice tomatoes into quarters and remove the seeds (optional). Then cut each quarter into a nice small dice and add to the mint along with the yoghurt and a good pinch of salt and pepper.
Dice cumber and add to mix.
Squeeze in the juice from half a lemon.
Mix well.
Mix Falafels
Mould and fry
If you're confident go ahead and mold straight into your hot pan. This saves on double handling but keep an eye on your temperature.
Add your quinoa to the falafel mix and season really well with a couple of large pinches of salt and a lot of fresh cracked pepper. Mix all together really well.
Your mix should be a bit sticky but hold together when squeezed into a ball. if it feels too dry, add another egg.
Mold your mix into 12 small patties, about the thickness of your thumb.
Cook
Heat 2-3 tablespoons of coconut oil in a large non-stick fry pan, you want enough to completely coat the bottom of the pan.
Start with a high heat, but once all your falafels are in the pan turn down slightly.
When you are cooking something heavy like this that needs to be well cooked right through but still have a lovely light golden colour outside, I like to flip multiple times. Cook 1 minute on each side twice. If you aren’t concerned about a slightly darker appearance then 2 minutes on each side is fine.
Plate it Pretty
Serve all on a big platter with your bowl of yoghurt and a big stack of lettuce leaves.
Sprinkle with sea salt.
Scatter a few fresh tips of coriander over the falafels.
To eat, fill a lettuce cup with two falafels, a generous helping of yoghurt and wrap.
Enjoy!
Lunch tomorrow
These would work really well in a gluten free wrap if that’s a bit more convenient.