Falafel and Tabouleh

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If you haven’t yet tried a raw falafel and tabouleh, you must! These recipes are so flavorful and healthy and are really better than their cooked counterparts. Using a dehydrator to dry the falafel batter before forming into balls creates a very authentic texture. Beyond delicious! This recipe is adapted from Living Raw Food.

Ingredients

Falafel

• 2 portobello mushroom caps — cubed
• 2 medium carrots — peeled and sliced
• 1/2 small onion — diced
• 1 garlic clove — sliced
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 cup raw pistachios
• 3/4 cup raw almonds
• 3/4 cup sunflower seeds — soaked for at least 30 minutes
• 1/4 cup chopped parsley or cilantro
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
• freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup ground flax seeds
• 1/4 cup sesame seeds

Tabouleh

• 1 large cauliflower head — florets only
• 3 cups cucumber — peeled, seeded, and finely diced
• 3 cups chopped parsley or cilantro
• 3 cups tomato — seeded and diced
• 1/3 cup scallions — thinly sliced
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon sea salt
• freshly ground black pepper

Tahini sauce
(Although this dish tastes best with these sauces, they are optional. You can also use your own favourite sauce.)

• 1 cup raw sesame tahini
• 1 cup water
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon sea salt

Hot sauce

• 1 red bell pepper — seeded and chopped
• 4 teaspoons olive oil
• 1 medium tomato — chopped
• 1 stalk celery — chopped
• 1/2 shallot — chopped
• 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon raw agave nectar
• 1/4 teaspoon paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt

Instructions

Falafel

1) Mix together the mushrooms, carrots, onion, garlic, 2 tablespoons of olive oil, and a pinch of salt.

2) Spread on Teflex-lined dehydrator trays and dehydrate at 115F for 1 hour.

3) After dehydration, pulse the mixture in a food processor to achieve small pieces. Transfer to a large bowl and set aside.

4) In a food processor, grind the nuts and sunflower seeds to a crumbly texture.

5) Add the ground nuts, parsley, cumin and lemon juice to the mushroom-vegetable mixture and mix thoroughly, seasoning with salt and pepper.

6) Form into spheres, and roll each one in a mix of ground flaxseeds and sesame seeds.

7) Dehydrate on a screen-lined tray for 2 hours before serving.

Tabouleh

1) Whirl the cauliflower in a food processor until finely chopped. Take care to not over-chop it to preserve the crunchy texture.

2) Toss with the remaining ingredients in a large mixing bowl.

3)Serve on romaine lettuce or baby spinach leaves with the falafel and sauces.

Tahini sauce

1) Mix all the ingredients until smooth.

Hot sauce

1) Coat the red pepper in 1 teaspoon of the olive oil and dehydrate for an hour.

2) In a high speed blender, blend the pepper with all the remaining ingredients until smooth.

Notes

Serve right out of the dehydrator for a warm dinner!