Hello, Monday! How was the weekend, friends? Did you shower your mom with all the things?
Of course I had a lovely weekend with my parents and brother. But on Saturday, Mark and I decided to get his family and my family together!
With the exception of about five minutes at graduation over a year ago, my family and Mark’s family haven’t mingled. Like, at all. So what better weekend to get the two crews together than Mother’s Day Weekend?!
Not gonna lie, I was a bit nervous. And I think Mark was, too. It was sort of a big day for us! My family and his family, all together under the same roof. I don’t know; perhaps it was just me being my ultra-anxious self. But IMO, there was a lot riding on this interaction. The mingling of the boyfriend’s family and the girlfriend’s family. It’s a big deal, right?! Or was I totally overthinking this? Totally possible. Chronic over-thinker right here.
So Mark’s parents ended up coming to my parents’ house on Saturday. My parents graciously offered to cook (something they both admittedly love to do), and it turned out being quite a fun night! Among some brisket that my dad smoked for the meat-eaters, we had a crazy good black bean and corn salsa, delicious corn bread, and my all-time favorite party dish, this Roasted Broccoli & Quinoa Salad with Honey Mustard Dressing. I’m pretty sure that I filled my plate twice with that stuff. And my brother and I, both adults mind you, literally fought over the leftovers.
Man, I love a delicious, filling meal on the weekends. You know when you hit that perfect threshold of comfortably full and ridiculously happy? Yep. That was me. Perfect weekend.
But one doesn’t need to wait for the weekend to get their grub on. No, one can (and totally should) devour these Mexican Falafel and reach that perfect full-happy state any night one chooses.
They’re so simple – just like my über-popular buffalo’d variety! -, and ridiculously versatile. I’ve eaten them five different ways – and still counting!
-In a tortilla with lettuce and hot sauce: perfection!
-On top of a salad with #alltheveggies: a classic!
-With sauces like my Ultimate Vegan Dipping Sauce and my Vegan Sriracha Mayo: so good!
-As a fun little stack with fresh tomatoes, salsa, hummus, and green onions (see below): fun and adorable!
-On their own as soon as they came out of the oven: a necessity!
You just can’t eat these wrong!
And Mark, a man who’s not the biggest falafel fan, happily gobbled these up for dinner one night. Serious yum happening over here!
Mexican Falafel for Meatless Monday 2016. Let’s make it happen, friends.
PrintMexican Falafel
- Yield: 7-8 falafel
Ingredients
- 1 15-oz. can chickpeas, drained, rinsed, and dried
- 1/2 tsp. cumin
- 1/2 tsp. chili powder
- 3/4 tsp. dried oregano
- 1/4 tsp. smoked paprika
- 1 green onion, roughly chopped
- 1 large (or 2 small) garlic cloves, roughly chopped
- salt + pepper
- a dash hot sauce (optional)
- 1 Tbsp.+ extra virgin olive oil
- 1–4 Tbsp. oat flour
- For serving: hummus, tomatoes, green onions, lime juice
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.*
- Add chickpeas, cumin, chili powder, oregano, paprika, green onion, garlic, salt, pepper, hot sauce (if using) and olive oil to a food processor and process until somewhat smooth, but still rather chunky.
- Mix in oat flour, 1 Tbsp. at a time with a spatula until the mixture dries out and is easily shaped into patties.
- Form mixture into 8 patties, and place directly on a baking sheet. Bake for 18-22 minutes, or until the falafel are crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. I actually flipped the falafel over with about 5 minutes remaining just so the other side got a little crispy, too.
- Remove from oven and allow the falafel to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before carefully moving them to a cooling rack. They’ll firm up a bit as they cool.
- Serve with tortillas, on top of a salad, in a stack, or on their own!
Notes
*Instead of baking these falafel, you’re more than welcome to pan-fry them with a bit of cooking oil. They’ll get crispier on the outside if you go this route.
A very special thank you goes to Bob’s Red Mill for supplying me with some of their delicious products that I love for this recipe! All opinions are my own.
Affiliate links were used in this blog post. “Affiliate” is just a fancy way of saying that I get some money if you click on and purchase the products that are linked! The money I earn will go directly back into Fooduzzi, so I’d really appreciate you helping me “feed” my blogging efforts!!
I can imagine that you were nervous – I would be too! I think it’s very important the families get along, so if you’re overthinking than I am too ;)
Sounds like a delicious recipe!
Haha I totally agree! It’s super important that everyone is one big, happy family ;) Thanks, Vivian!
Ha! I’m glad the mingling of the families went over smoothly :) Would you believe me if I said I’ve never made falafel? It’s true! Adding it to my long list of “things to make” riiiiiight now.
YES. DO IT! You’ll love it.
I love that you combined to cuisines together, mexican and greek! These falafels are on-point :)
Thanks, Rachel! I was super excited how these turned out!
I definitely need to make falafel on my own because I’m obsessed with it and it would probably save me sooo much money haha. I always order it from my go-to Mediterranean place like 2 seconds from my apartment . They know my order whenever I come in.
And making your own falafel is SO easy, too! You can totally do it, friend! :)
This is such a clever idea! I love falafel and I love mexican food – but I especially love fusing different cuisines/recipes! DEFINITELY need to try this!
Thanks, Kristy! Mexican food is our favorite ever!
Woah, I do have chickpeas. I was thinking about making energy balls, but these look like an amazing alternative. :)))
Aw thanks, Emily! Let me know if you give them a try!
Alexa I’ve never has any luck with making falafel but your recipe looks too good not to try again. Pinning for menu planning.
:) I hope you get to give these a try, Jill!
Mmmm, I freakin’ love falafel. These look so tasty, lady!!! Glad the weekend went so well:)
haha me, too :) Super happy the weekend went well!