Falafel Veggie Burgers

A couple of weeks ago Alex and I checked out a local Israeli restaurant and tried the falafel.  FABULOUS!  It was like fried hummus.  I instantly fell in love.  What do I do when I find a food I love?  I find a recipe so I can make it at home.  I found this recipe at Allrecipes.com.

If you'll notice, the title of this blog entry is Falafel Veggie BURGERS.  I visited a local restaurant that had the BEST veggie burger I have EVER had.  TRULY!  It was made our of chickpeas.  I searched the net high and low looking for yummy recipes for chickpea veggie burgers.  I found a couple, but they looked rather bland.  So I figured I would search out straight up falafel...and stumbled upon the falafel recipe I had been wanting to make.  Instead of having these babies on a pita, I put them on hamburger buns with lettuce and mayo.  FREAKING PHENOMENAL!!!!  I am going to make these ALL the time!!!  We had them with a side of sweet potato fries.  I gorged myself on this meal tonight and just typing the words out is making my mouth water!!!

Sean's Falafel:
1 (15 ounce) can chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained

1 onion, chopped
1/2 cup fresh parsley
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 egg
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon salt
1 dash pepper
1 pinch cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup dry bread crumbs
oil for frying
1 (6 ounce) container plain yogurt
1/2 cucumber - peeled, seeded, and finely chopped
1 teaspoon dried dill weed
salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoon mayonnaise

In a large bowl mash chickpeas until thick and pasty; don't use a blender, as the consistency will be too thin.

In a blender, process onion, parsley and garlic until smooth. Stir into mashed chickpeas.

In a small bowl combine egg, cumin, coriander, salt, pepper, cayenne, lemon juice and baking powder. Stir into chickpea mixture along with olive oil. Slowly add bread crumbs until mixture is not sticky but will hold together; add more or less bread crumbs, as needed. Form 8 balls and then flatten into patties.

Heat 1 inch of oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Fry patties in hot oil until brown on both sides.

In a small bowl combine yogurt, cucumber, dill, salt, pepper and mayonnaise. Chill for at least 30 minutes.

I am getting pretty bad at taking pictures of the completed product.  The meals are too FAB to plate it up, take a picture and then eat...I just dive right in. :)  ENJOY!!!