Falafel

Tonight, Jacob willingly ate something other than Goldfish for the first time since Friday.  I'm not sure if the falafel was that good or if he finally had to give in to his hunger.

I found a recipe for baked falafel in Parents magazine.  This falafel was baked in the oven instead of fried. On pita with the yogurt sauce, the falafel was pretty good.  Alone, it seemed dry and somewhat bland.  Mashing the beans with the other ingredients seemed like it could have been done more easily and effectively in a food processor.

Ingredients
1 15oz can garbanzo beans
1/4 cup shredded carrots
3 Tab sesame tahini
1/2 tsp ground cumin
2 Tab flour
1 1/2 tsp minced garlic
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1 Tab olive oil or cooking spray
1/3 cup plain yogurt
2 Tab lemon juice

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Rinse and drain garbanzo beans.  Mash together with carrot, flour, 1 Tab water, 2 Tab tahini, garlic, cumin, salt, and pepper.
Grease a cookie sheet.  Shape mixture into 16 patties the size of a half dollar.  Place on cookie sheet.  Brush with olive oil.  Bake for 10 minutes or until crispy, turning once.
In a small bowl, mix together yogurt, 1 Tab tahini, and lemon juice.
Serve falafel on pita with yogurt sauce and fresh veggies.