Tag Archives: middle eastern

One of my all-time favorite vegetarian meals is falafel. We don’t make it very often, because it’s a little tedious, but every time I have it, I remember why it’s so awesome. Friday, as we all know, was the opening of the 2012 Summer Olympics, so Boyfriend & I decided to cook an elaborate dinner to celebrate.

Considering we were already breaking out the food processor to make the falafel mixture, we decided to go all out and make hummus from scratch as well. As I’ve mentioned before, hummus is a great vegetarian staple. It’s delicious enough when you purchase it at the store, but nothing really beats home-made hummus. It’s undeniably thicker, creamier, and tastier when it is coming from your own kitchen. And, aside from the cleanup, it’s not really that difficult.

Most hummus recipes call for tahini, which is ground up sesame seeds. You don’t have to use this– it’s very calorie dense, and you can absolutely get away without it. I hardly ever use tahini in my hummus.

To change it up a little and amp up the complexity of our dish, we made roasted red pepper hummus.

The extra step of oven-roasting a red pepper certainly made the difference in our hummus. It tastes a little bit more gourmet and adds a huge flavor punch.

Without any further ado, here’s the recipe for both!

To Make The Hummus:

You will need…

• 2 medium sized red peppers, cut into thick slices
• olive oil
• salt, pepper
• 2 15-oz cans of chickpeas, rinsed and drained
• 2 garlic cloves
• salt, pepper
• 2 tsp cumin
• juice of 1/2 lemon

Method…

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with foil, and place red pepper strips on sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt & pepper. Cook in the preheated oven for approx 10 minutes, or until edges start to brown. Remove from oven and let cool.
2. When the pepper strips have cooled, place chickpeas, garlic, pepper strips, salt, pepper, cumin, and lemon juice in a food processor. Puree until blended. While the mixture is processing, slowly drizzle in olive oil until you reach your desired creaminess. You may need to stop the processor and scrape the sides down as needed. Taste, and adjust seasoning if necessary.
3. Put hummus in a large bowl and cover with saran wrap. Refrigerate for approx 1 hour, then serve.

To Make the Falafel:

You will need…

• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 1/2 green pepper, chopped
• 2 green onions, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic
• 2 15-oz cans of chickpeas, rinsed and drained
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• salt, pepper
• 2 tsp cumin
• 1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup breadcrumbs
• olive oil, for pan frying
• pita bread, sliced open
• romaine lettuce
• tomato slices
• onion slices
• cucumber slices
• hummus

Method…

1. In a food processor, combine onion, green onion, green pepper, garlic, chickpeas, lemon, and spices. Puree until blended. Taste, and adjust seasoning if necessary.
2. Add egg and breadcrumbs. Puree again. The mixture should be very thick and be able to be pressed together into balls. If too dry, add some water or olive oil. If too wet, add more breadcrumbs.
3. Form 1 1/2″ balls out of the mixture, and place on a plate. Refrigerate for approx 30 minutes.
4. To pan fry the balls: Heat about 1/2″ olive oil in a large pan. Cook the falafel balls approx 7 minutes, turning frequently, until crispy on the outside. Let drain on paper towels a few minutes before serving.
5. To bake the balls: Preheat oven 375 degrees. On a foil-lined baking sheet, place the balls. Bake them approx 20 minutes, or until crispy.
6. To serve: Arrange the balls in a pita, stuffed with tomato, lettuce, onion, cucumber, and hummus. Serve & enjoy!

It sure has been a while!

I miss this blog so I figured I’d throw in a little update. Things have been busy here- new jobs, vacations, work, work, and more work! I’d like to write more and am hoping that with a little bit of a “spring cleaning”, this blog can get a makeover and stay a bit more up-to-date. I may branch out & write about more than just cooking. Stay tuned.

Boyfriend & I have been trying to eat even more healthy than usual lately, so we’ve been cooking a lot of huge salads, egg-based meals, etc. Our dinners have been super colorful. He’s training for the Warrior Dash, so I’m trying to be a supportive girlfriend by not Paula Deen’ing it up in the kitchen.  There was an occurrence of Irish soda bread last month, and a few batches of white peach sangria,  but those instances were necessary.

One of my all-time favorite go-to snacks is hummus. As any vegetarian knows, hummus is one of the greatest foods on the planet. It’s a great source of protein; it’s relatively low-calorie (especially if you make your own), and it tastes awesome. There’s a ton of hummus products out there; my personal store-bought favorites are by Tribe and the Trader Joes brand.

But let’s be real- hummus is best when made from scratch, like everything else. The best perk about making your own is control. There’s two ingredients in hummus that is the biggest component in its calorie/fat content: tahini & oil. By taking the 10 minutes needed in order to create hummus in a food processor, you can control how much goes in there. Plus, the flavor variations are endless!

(clearly boyfriend did not take this photo)

A Hummus Recipe

Continue reading →