Green Falafel Bowl With Butternut Hummus
Delicious, nutritious, and beautiful to look at, this green falafel bowl is perfect for a light lunch or dinner!
Welcome to the Lockdown Chow Down!
Join me (almost) daily as we reconnect with one of life’s most simple pleasures, food! This recipe can be viewed as a cook along on the Culinary Cartel Instagram, by clicking here, or by viewing the “Baked Falafel” highlight on Instagram stories.
Meet my hacked falafel platter – just 12 simple ingredients, 30-40 minutes to make and oh so delicious and wholesome.
Falafel are a Middle Eastern dish made from chickpeas or fava beans. They are usually fried until deliciously crisp, and served alongside hummus and tahini sauce. This is commonly known as a falafel plate.
The traditional recipe for falafel can be quite a process to make, involving deep frying and soaking dried chickpeas for hours. I decided to make a hacked version using tinned chickpeas and added instructions to help avoid the deep fryer. In my version we add kale, one of nature’s most nutrient-dense veggies, and pimp our hummus with the addition of gooey, slow-roasted, cumin spiced, butternut. When you can’t order take out from your favourite Middle Eastern restaurant, trust me, this is going to absolutely hit it out of the park with the family.
This recipe can easily be doubled or tripled to serve four, or more.
If you try this recipe, let us know how it goes! Leave a comment, rate it, and don’t forget to tag your photo #theculinarycartel and #lockdownchowdown on Instagram so we can see what you come up with. Happy cooking!
Frequently Asked Questions
What can I use instead of chia seeds?
Chia seeds act as the binder here and also help to keep the falafels moist. If replacing them add between 2-4 Tbsp of flour to the mixture after it has been through the food processor. Once the falafels can be easily formed into balls, without crumbling, you are ready to proceed with the next step. Flour is a great binder, but chia has the added benefit of keeping the falafels during cooking.
2-3 Tbsp of flax meal will also work well in place of chia seeds.
Can I freeze the falafel?
Shape your falafel then cook until golden brown as directed. Once cool, freeze. To reheat bring the falafel to room temperate and warm though in the pan with a little oil, the oven or air fryer.
Green Falafel Bowl With Butternut Hummus
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 2 Servings
Description
Delicious, nutritious, and beautiful to look at, this green falafel bowl is perfect for a light lunch or dinner!
Ingredients
For the falafel
- 1 tin of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 80g (1 cup) of kale, stems removed, finely chopped
- 1/4 red onion, finely chopped
- 2 Tbsp chia seeds
- 1 – 2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp coriander
- 1 tsp, garlic, peeled and grated
- 2 Tbsp parsley, chopped
Hummus
- 1/2 tin of chickpeas
- 300g raw butternut
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 3 Tbsp nut butter/tahini
- 2 Tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp garlic
- 2 – 4 Tbsp water
- salt to taste
- Leaves or a simple side salad to serve.
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 200C.
- Add your butternut to a roasting tray, drizzle over olive oil, cumin and salt and toss to combine. Roast covered in foil until softening (about 10 minutes), then remove the foil for the last 5-10 minutes to get a little golden colour on the butternut.
- While the butternut is cooking make your falafel.
- To make your falafel add your chickpeas, kale, red onion, 1 tsp salt, spices, grated garlic, and parsley to a food processor. Pulse the mixture until you have a coarse, chunky paste.
- Scrape the mixture out of the food processor and into a bowl. Stir through the chia seeds. Set aside for 5 minutes. The chia will act as a binder, absorbing excess moisture.
- Take a small ball of the chickpea mixture and press it together into a ball. If the mixture holds its shape well and feels firm and compact, you can move on to shaping; however, if it still feels a little moist add 1tsp more chia and leave it for a further 5 minutes.
- Taste the falafel mixture. Add more salt to taste if needed.
- Divide the falafel mixture into 10 balls, then press the balls down to form nice fat disks.
- To cook the falafel
Frying
You can choose to shallow fry the falafel in about 1cm of canola oil, which will result in a super crisp exterior and it’s definitely quicker than baking them. Simply heat the oil until shimmering, then add the falafel being careful not to add too many at once (cooling down the oil will make them go greasy), cook on one side until golden, then flip, repeat and remove to drain on kitchen paper. While I will note that baking them is healthier, and the method I used in the picture, I do prefer frying them, as they don’t absorb a lot of oil and it takes a lot quicker
Baking
Turn the oven to up 220C. Place the falafel on a baking tray, lined with baking paper or tinfoil. Brush the falafel liberally in olive oil. Place them into the oven and cook for about 10-15 minutes until browned. About halfway through cooking, give them another basting with olive oil (this will help them crisp)
Air fryer
Brush the falafel in olive oil. Place in the air fryer, select air fry, 205C and set the timer to 10 minutes. You do not need to wait for it to preheat. Halfway through cooking, flip the falafel and brush again with olive oil, for an even crisp. Cook the falafel until deeply golden (add 1-2 mins cook time if needed) - While the falafel cooks, make your hummus. To make your butternut hummus blend the roasted butternut and remaining ingredients until you have a smooth puree. Add salt to taste.
- Time to plate up. Smear the butternut hummus over two plates, add your salad leaves, and finish the plate with a few crispy falafels.
Happy cooking!
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1
- Calories: 431.8kcal
- Sugar: 3.74g
- Sodium: 2151.59mg
- Fat: 22.29g
- Saturated Fat: 2.86g
- Unsaturated Fat: 17.73g
- Trans Fat: 0.02g
- Carbohydrates: 48.86g
- Fiber: 15.79g
- Protein: 17.3g
- Cholesterol: 0.22mg
