My love affair with big beautiful loaded salad continues with this Loaded Falafel Salad!
So today it's all about 3 of my favorite things. 1: salads. 2: I have a deep love for Lebanese food and these falafels are majorly hitting the spot. 3: My current favorite cookbook Rose Water & Orange Blossom from Maureen Abood. I'm slowly cooking my way through the entire cookbook and have decided that it might be best to just move to Maureen's house and set up a sleeping bag in her kitchen. The food is OUT OF THIS WORLD delicious and I'm hooked - if you haven't seen her blog - do so immediately!. I've been making her homemade falafel recipe for months on end and I can't get enough. She's a falafel genius!!
I've been eating them on repeat - they can be dipped into hummus, dipped in tzatziki, any other sauce on hand, and most recently in this big bold salad! It's a beauty and if I could have it for lunch for the entire month of October, I'd be pumped! Homemade falafel takes more than a minute to put together - but it's 100% worth it because it blows the store bought falafel mix out of the water. So moral of the story - make the salad, buy her cookbook, and then invite me over for a meal. kthanksbye 🙂
Loaded Falafel Salad
Ingredients
For the Falafel
- ½ cup dry uncooked chickpeas
- ½ cup dry uncooked fava beans
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ cup mint leaves
- ¾ cup flat-leaf parsley leaves
- ⅔ cup cilantro leaves
- 1 small jalapeño ribs and seeds removed and coarsely chopped
- 2 garlic clove minced
- ½ cup chopped yellow onion
- 1 tablespoon sesame seeds
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- Vegetable oil for frying (about 3 cups)
For the Salad:
- 1 head red leaf lettuce torn
- 1 head green leaf lettuce torn
- ¼ head large red cabbage shredded
- 2-3 Persian cucumber sliced
- 1 pint cherry tomatoes halved
- Baby strawberries optional
- Fresh mint cilantro and parsley`
For the Dressing:
- ¾ cup greek yogurt
- ⅓ cup tahini
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- Juice of 1 lemon
- water to thin out the sauce
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, cover the chickpeas and fava beans with water and soak them overnight.
- After soaking, drain the chickpeas and fava beans and pat them dry. Place them into a food processor, with a teaspoon of salt and process until they resemble a coarse crumb. Add the mint, parsley, cilantro, jalapeño, garlic, onion, and sesame seeds and pulse until everything is finely ground and the mixture is a fine, web crumb. Transfer the mixture to a bowl, stir in the baking soda, and chill for at least 30 minutes.
- Heat the oil in a heavy bottom saucepan. Using a small ice cream scoop, pack the falafel mixture tightly into the scoop and form balls, slightly smaller than a golf ball. Carefully drop the balls into the hot oil, and fry a few at a time until golden brown, making sure to flip them over as soon as they are brown on one side. Using a slotted spoon, remove the falafel from the oil to a paper towel-lined plate and let cool and excess oil drip off. Repeat process with the remaining falafels.
- In a large bowl, combine the lettuces, cabbage, cucumber, tomatoes and fresh herbs. Add the falafel on top and serve with the dressing on the side.
To make the dressing
- Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and whisk together. Add water to thin out the sauce and turn it into a pourable dressing. Adjust salt as needed.
Notes
Nutrition Information
Photo by Matt Armendariz / Food Styling by Adam Pearson / Falafel + Dressing slightly adapted from Maureen - Big Crazy Salad from What’s Gaby Cooking
Unfortunately I have a deep hatred for cilantro...do I just omit it? Can I substitute coriander seeds (for some reason, these I don't mind)?
Thanks!
use basil instead!
I tried this recipe tonight. I replaced the fava beans with edemame and used canned chickpeas. The falafel fell apart when I cooked them and then the flavor of the baking soda was overpowering and I couldn't eat it. Do you have any suggestions?
Hey Michelle! I haven't tested this with edamame or canned chickpeas so I can't say what went wrong. I make the recipe as is quite frequently, so if you follow the recipe as I listed I feel confident that you'll love it!
Ah I could eat that kind of salad for every meal! It looks so fresh and delicious.
Totally my kind of salad!!!
I am obsessed with Lebanese food and love falafel! I never would have thought to use strawberries- cool addition. I will go check out her blog and book asap!
I could really get used to eating this salad!!
I LOVE the addition of falafel! This looks like such a tasty salad. Perfect for a meal anytime!!
Wonderful! So many healthy, yummy ingredients!
Brilliant!! Those little strawberries are so cute I could just pinch them. Love it!
Ahh I adore falafel and putting it in a salad is so awesome!! Want it so bad!