Vegan Sandwiches
Fabulous FalafelsMake these tasty falafel as sandwiches, a quick dinner or an appetizer for an impromptu party. Falafels are just as good at room temperature as they are HOT. So take them to a picnic or party and don't worry about keeping them HOT or COLD.

Yields: 18 mini-falafel balls

Ingredients
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2-1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (hot)
4 cloves of garlic, peeled
1/2 teaspoon organic cumin
1 teaspoon baking powder

3 tablespoons Bob's Red Mill Organic Pastry Wheat Flour
3 tablespoons Bob's Red Mill Organic White Flour
2 slices Alvarado Barley Bread or any whole grain bread

1 can organic garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed

1/2 large onion, roughly chopped (about 1 cup)
1/2 cup fresh Italian parsley
1/2 cup fresh mint

non-stick olive oil spray

Sauces
Cucumber Soy Yogurt Sauce(recipe below)
Tahini Sauce (see recipe below)

whole wheat pita bread

Tools
Cuisinart Food Processor, fitted with knife blade
cutting board
knives
Messermeister Melon Baller
measuring cups & spoons
fine mesh strainer
heavy bottomed fry pan
tongs

Create the Falafel
The Garbanzo Beans
The best way to make falafel is to start from scratch and cook up a batch of garbanzo beans that have soaked overnight, but I like to just grab a can to create a quick meal on a warm day.

Simply open a can of organic garbanzo beans and pour them into a fine mesh strainer and run cold water over them to remove all the canned juices... I do this to remove any salt and juices that sometimes cause flatulence.

Combine The Ingredients
In a Cuisinart Food Processor fitted with the knife blade, place ALL the ingredients into the bowl, except the beans: onion, parsley, mint, salt, crushed red pepper, garlic, cumin, baking powder, flours, bread.

Pulse till all the ingredients are like fine bread crumbs.

Open the lid and add the garbanzo beans and pulse till the beans are evenly crushed and larger than the bread crumbs.

The mixture should have larger pieces of garbanzo beans.

Form the Falafel Balls
Spray the fry pan with the olive oil spray and turn it to medium high heat.

Spray your hands with the olive oil and with a scoop out a golf ball sized portion and roll into a ball.

Place the ball into the pan and repeat till you have 18 balls placed in the fry pan.

Spray the balls in the fry pan with the olive oil spray again.

With tongs, roll the balls to another side to brown or flip the patties to brown on the other side... spray with the olive oil again if needed.

Cooking should only take about 7 minutes on each side and can be kept warm in the pan with the heat off and uncovered.

The Pita Bread
I like to use my DeLonghi Pannini Maker for warming the pita bread.

Preheat the pannini maker to HIGH and then turn OFF the machine.

With the olive oil, spray both sides of the pita bread over the sink and place on the pannini grill and GENTLY close... leave for only 1 minute. If you press the lid too hard, it will fuse the pita bread together making it hard to split open to fill.

Remove the pita bread, slice in half and fill with two falafel balls, drizzle with the Tahini Sauce, a dollop of the Cucumber Soy Yogurt Sauce and a few of the diced tomatoes.

The Tahini Sauce
Yields: About 1 1/4 cups.

Tahini Sauce Ingredients
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 cup tahini (Middle Eastern sesame paste)
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup olive oil

Tahini Sauce Preparation
In a small bowl add the tahini, cumin, salt, garlic, lemon juice, water and olive oil.

Whisk till completely smooth.

Taste and add more salt if desired and more lemon juice or water to thin if desired.

Set aside till serving.

Refrigerate leftovers in a glass jar.

HINT: Leftover Tahini Sauce can be used to make a great salad dressing. Just use more olive oil, lemon juice and water to create the consistency you desire.

Cucumber Soy Yogurt Sauce
Yields: 4 servings

Cucumber Soy Yogurt Sauce Ingredients
1 cup Wildwood Soy Yogurt, unsweetened
1 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 cucumber, seeded and chopped
2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, finely chopped
2 tablespoons Italian parsley, finely chopped
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
sea salt
pepper

Cucumber Soy Yogurt Sauce Preparation
The Cucumber
Peel the cucumber, cut it in half, with a melon baller, scoop out the seeds and medium dice.

The Yogurt Sauce
In a small bowl, add the yogurt, cumin, and lemon juice, whisk the contents till smooth.

Add the cucumber and fold into the sauce.

Fold in the cilantro and parsley and taste for added sea salt and/or pepper.

Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate till serving.

The Fabulous Falafels shown topped with the Cucumber Yogurt Sauce and drizzled with the Tahini Sauce. The side salad is The Gorgeous Greek Feta Salad.

Presentation
Fabulous Falafels served with a small bowl of the Gorgeous Greek Feta Salad and Tabouli Salad provide a gourmet summer Mediterranean meal!

Make the falafel smaller and serve them on a tray with the Tahini Sauce as a dip. Add tooth picks for easier dipping and less clean-up.