Baked Sundried Tomato Falafels with Tzatziki Dip
Crispy Sundried Tomato Falafels with a delicious Tzatziki Dip is a quick and filling weeknight meal. Make the falafels in bulk and pop on top of any salad or into a pita wrap.
I’m sitting tableside in my kitchen with the patio door ajar. It’s beautiful outside. Birds are peacefully chirping in the distance - not too loud and not too faint. Just enough to make their presence known. It’s warm but with an overcast sky looming above. It’s the making for a lovely day, yet, I have a lingering flu that’s nearly gone but not fast enough. It feels like the entire day, and all that surrounds me, is in a sort of suspended limbo. Kind of warm, but not warm enough; sick but not to the point that I could get away with napping all day (that was reserved for yesterday). So I’ll take it as a sign to be steady in this day. To relax and just appreciate that life isn’t always so fast and furious. That within these calm moments there is beauty. You might just need to be still enough to see it before they’re gone…
And as I leave this space to start the day (I’m meeting with a café in the city that I’ll be doing some very fun work with that I’ll reveal soon!) I wanted to share a third falafel recipe with you. Since I figured that nearly everything goes well with a base of chickpeas, lets throw in some sundried tomatoes for an unexpected sweetness that balances the earthy cumin and paprika spices. It’s a good one, with a very different flavor profile from the first two – Sweet Potato and Turmeric Falafels and Spicy Quinoa Falafels. All three of these falafel recipes are ‘gate-ways’ – showing you just how healthy and easy falafel making can be. And as with every recipe in this space, swap with whatever ingredient you have one hand. That’s my M.O. most cooking days, although the chickpeas are pretty important to this recipe :)
Enjoy you guys and have a lovely day no matter what speed you’re movin’ today.
xx Marie
Serves: 12-15 balls
Prep Time: 5 minutes | Cook Time: 25-30 minutes
Ingredients for the Sundried Tomato Falafels:
- 14oz can of chickpeas (drained and rinsed)
- 5 sundried tomato pieces
- drizzle of olive oil (about a tablespoon)
- 1 cup fresh cilantro or parsley (I used parsley)
- 3 garlic cloves
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- 1 tablespoon paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
- juice of 1 small lemon
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
Ingredients for the Tzatziki Sauce:
- 1/2 cup of coconut yogurt
- 1/2 of a small cucumber (skin peeled and thinly sliced)
- 2 garlic cloves (thinly sliced)
- juice a half a small lemon
- small handful of fresh dill
- pinch of sea salt
Instructions:
Preheat your oven to 375F. Add all the ingredients into the food processor. Pulse for 15-20 seconds until the chickpeas have broken down but are not totally blended - we do not want to turn the mixture into humus - we want there to be small chunks of chickpeas and sundried tomatoes throughout.
Then on a parchment paper lined baking sheet, scoop out the falafel mixture with an ice cream scooper and place on the sheet. Just make sure the falafels are no bigger than an inch thick. They should be pretty small. Bake for 25-30 minutes until the top is slightly golden brown and crispy and the center is creamy. Enjoy!
For the tzatziki simply scoop the yogurt into a bowl and mix in the thinly sliced cucumbers, garlic, lemon juice and dill.
Toppings:
- I like to add 4-5 falafels on top of a simple salad - arugula, celery, olives, cucumber, hemp seeds and tomatoes salad with a lemon and olive oil dressing (as seen above).
- Or add the falafel into a collard green or pita wrap with the tzatziki dressing.
Your Thoughts?
How do you guys feel about sundried tomatoes? I used to never like them but they're actually delicious! They lend a naturally sweet flavor to the falafels, one that I've never tasted before. Let me know how you guys like it! And if you'd like a few more falafel recipes I've posted a Sweet Potato and Turmeric recipe and Quinoa Falafel Wrap for you as well.
I also love seeing your take on any of the recipes from the blog so don't forget to tag me on Instagram - #8thandlake - so I can see your creations!
You can also find me on Snapchat with more photos and clips of my everyday life - username - marie8thandlake and on Pinterest - to see what my dream reality would look like ;)
Lots of love from the west coast,
xx Marie