One of the first recipes we posted on the blog was baked herb & pistachio falafels. That was back in the days when we didn’t have three monsters tearing down the house. When I still had an old-fashioned job. And when baking a falafel instead of deep-frying it felt like a fresh new idea. Elsa once asked me if grandma’s older sister was alive when the dinosaurs lived on earth. I told her no (while simultaneously typing a message with a ton of dinosaur emojis to my mom). That is roughly how long ago that falafel recipe feels like. Dinosaur age. So much has happened since then.
I still think it’s a good recipe and today’s falafel recipe has much of the same qualities. They are simple, baked, packed with fresh herbs and hold together excellently. If you don’t serve it with the mint yogurt, it is also vegan. We subbed the pistachios with some pumpkin seeds/pepitas this time and replaced half of the chickpeas with green peas to make them more suited for spring. It also gives them a slightly sweet tone and less dry than your average falafel (which is one of our favorite features with this recipe). We serve them in a bowl with roasted carrots, cinnamon spiked quinoa, beetroot hummus and a splash of mint yogurt instead of wrapping them up in lettuce or bread. We think of it as a spring-y Moroccan falafel bowl. I won’t claim that this is a dead-simple recipe (as it involves cooking, mixing and baking), but I at least find it comforting that the carrots, beetroot and falafels all are baked simultaneously in the oven.
Before we jump to the recipe, we wanted to share the updated schedule for our little Green Kitchen At Home US book tour. And also this short video about the book that we did the other day.
As we mentioned in our last post, we are coming to the US next week for some press activities. Both Luise and I will be in New York and then I’ll continue on my own to SF and LA. We are only doing a few public events and are very much hoping to see some of you there.
New York > 1 May
Our cooking class at Sur La Table is sold out but we will have a mingle, book signing and Q&A at CAP Beauty on 1 May, 7 pm. Entrance is free, you get to try some tasters from the book and we’ll both be there to chat. All you need to do is RSVP here.
San Francisco & Los Angeles > 3-5 May
I’ll be at Credo Beauty in San Francisco on 3 May, 2-4 pm, signing books and chatting with you all about food, photography, kids and whatnot. I will also be doing the same in their Los Angeles store on 4 May, 5-7 pm. Free entrance, just RSVP through these links: San Francisco 3 May, Los Angeles 4 May.
I’ll also be teaching a hands-on cooking class at Sur La Table in Los Angeles. There are still a few tickets available – so go get them here!
For those of you who’s been asking, we will also be coming to London in June and Amsterdam after the summer. Enough about that. Let’s start cooking!
Recipe notes
• Falafel purists use soaked chickpeas instead of cooked. Cooked is however much quicker and works just fine. We also find that it’s easier on our digestion.
• You don’t have to roast the beetroot for the hummus but can simply grate raw beetroot before mixing it. But since we’re using the oven anyway for the other parts of the bowl, we roast them to give the hummus a rounder flavor.
Green Pea Falafel Bowl
Serves 4
Falafels
1 cup / 150 g green peas, fresh or frozen (thawed)
1 cup / 150 g cooked chickpeas
2 small shallots, peeled and coarsely chopped
1-2 cloves garlic, peeled
2 tbsp buckwheat flour or potato starch
2 tbsp pumpkin seeds
1/2 tsp baking powder
3 stalks fresh mint, leaves picked
3 stalks parsley, stems discarded
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp flaky sea salt
1-2 tbsp olive oil
Beetroot Hummus
200 g raw beetroots
1 cup / 150 g cooked white beans
3 tbsp light tahini (sesame paste)
4 tbsp lemon juice
3 tbsp cold-pressed olive oil
1 tsp ground cumin
1 clove garlic, peeled
1 tsp flaky sea salt
Cinnamon Quinoa
1 cup uncooked Quinoa
pinch flaky sea salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 small handfull raisins (we used green raisins with a smoky flavor)
To serve
4 carrots, peeled and cut into thick sticks (bake together with the beetroot)
2 avocados, sliced
4 handfuls mache lettuce
1/2 cucumber, sliced
12 radishes, sliced
1 cup plain yogurt
a bunch fresh mint leaves, chopped
a handful toasted almonds, chopped
sesame seeds
Preheat the oven to 200°C / 400°F fan mode (this is because we’re doing two plates simultaneously).
Add all falafel ingredients (except the oil) to a food processor and pulse until mixed but not pureed. With moist hands, shape 16 mini falafel patties (roughly 1 generous tablespoon per falafel). Pour a little olive oil into the palm of your hand and then place each falafel in it, smoothing out the falafel and at the same time coating it in oil. Refill with oil for every fourth falafel. Place them on a baking tray covered with baking paper. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes, turning them after half the time.
Peel the beets and cut in quarters. Place on a baking tray together with the prepared carrots (from the To serve list) and place in the oven (this can be done simultaneously as the falafel tray) for about 20 minutes or until baked through and soft. Let cool slightly and then place the beets (set the the carrots aside for serving) in a food processor (or bowl if using a stick blender) with the rest of the ingredients and mix for at least 2 minutes until very smooth. Taste and adjust the flavors to you liking.
Prepare the quinoa while the vegetables are in the oven: Place rinsed quinoa in a saucepan, add 2 cups water, salt and cinnamon and bring to a boil. Lower the heat immediately and simmer for about 12-15 minutes. Stir in raisins and set aside.
Stir together yogurt and a handful chopped mint leaves, set aside.
Arrange all serving ingredients in bowls and top with beetroot hummus, quinoa and pea falafels. Sprinkle with almonds, sesame seeds and mint. Enjoy!
PS! If you have already received our new book through online orders, we’d be super grateful if you could leave a short review of it on Amazon. Thank you!
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