Simple baked falafel are crumbled over a bed of vegetables, avocado, olives and greens, and served with a sundried tomato tahini dressing for a hearty lunch bowl.
Course lunch
Cuisine gluten-free, vegan, vegetarian
Keyword falafel salad
Prep Time 10minutes
Cook Time 25minutes
Total Time 35minutes
Servings 30falafels
Calories 118kcal
Author Yup, it's Vegan
Ingredients
For the baked falafel:
1/4of a medium onionroughly chopped (any color is fine)
1/3cupBob's Red Mill quick oatsplus more as needed (see notes)
For each baked falafel salad bowl:
5to 8 baked falafel balls(see recipe above)
several big handfuls of mixed greens
5-6cherry tomatoessliced
1/2of an avocadodiced (it's sliced in my pictures, but diced actually works better)
small handful of olives(I used a mixture of green and Kalamata), pitted and sliced
dressing and other toppings of choice
Instructions
For the baked falafel:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Lightly grease a baking sheet with olive oil.
In a food processor, combine the onion, garlic, tahini, olive oil, cilantro, cumin, salt and pepper. Blend until fairly smooth, stopping to scrape down the sides if needed.
Add the cooked chickpeas and 1/3 cup of oats to the food processor. Pulse a little bit at a time, until the chickpeas and oats are broken up into small chunks and incorporated, but not smooth.
Transfer the mixture to a bowl. Stir in more quick oats as needed to get the mixture dry and thick enough to roll into balls. One by one, roll the falafel mix into small balls and place on the greased baking sheet. Optionally, you can flatten it into more of a disk shape if that better suits the way you'll be using the baked falafel.
Bake for 15 minutes without opening the oven door. Take the pan out of the oven. Try to be very careful here; the baked falafel is still quite delicate at this stage. Use a spatula to dislodge each falafel ball from the baking sheet and flip it onto its other side. It's important to use a spatula and move the falafel from the bottom using a sideways motion. If you pull upward on it, it's likely that part of it will stay stuck to the baking sheet.
Return the baking sheet to the oven and cook for about 15 minutes more, or until lightly browned on both sides and slightly crisp on the outside (but still soft on the inside). If you keep baking it longer after this, it will get even crunchier, but also more crumbly.
Once cooled, baked falafel will store in an airtight container in the fridge for about a week.
For the baked falafel salad bowls:
Toss together all salad ingredients except the falafel with your sauce/dressing of choice. For my sauce, I used tahini blended with sundried tomatoes and a little maple syrup. Your favorite tahini-based dressing, vegan tzatziki, or Italian dressing would all work very well here.
Serve topped with falafel and any other toppings of your choice. (Almond feta would also be great!)
Notes
I recommend that you don't substitute old-fashioned rolled oats for the quick oats here. I have tested it both ways and the rolled oats work, but don't integrate as well into the falafel after cooking.Nutrition information is calculated for the falafel only and excluding the salad accompaniments.