My family enjoys working meatless meals into our routine fairly regularly. Whether it's eggplant parmesan, sweet potato and quinoa chili, or falafels, it's nice to view meals as more than a meat-focused event. This time around, I'm sharing a quick and clever falafel recipe featuring pumpkin. In about 20 minutes, you can have a generous pan of crispy, flavorful falafels to tuck into pitas, set atop salads, or dip into hummus and/or yogurt sauce. I love recipes like this.
If you don't have a food processor, you can mash all of the ingredients together with a fork or mixer, but the food processor makes incredibly quick work of it and gives a very smooth mixture. Besides, using a food processor is pretty fun!
Depending on my timing and energy levels, I will also add veggies to have alongside - either in the form of a simple Greek salad or just some chopped tomatoes, onions, and cucumbers. But really, you can just have a plate of these and call them dinner too. There's a lot of yum to enjoy!
Pumpkin Falafels
- 10 oz. pureed pumpkin - freshly roasted or from a can
- 2 T. flour - nearly any kind will do (choose a GF option for a gluten free falafel)
- 1 (14oz.) can chickpeas - rinsed and drained
- 1 large yellow onion - finely diced
- 2 T. minced garlic
- 1 tsp. ground cumin
- 1 tsp. dried parsley
- 1 ½ tsp. ground coriander
- 2 T. lemon juice
- ½ tsp. salt
Preheat the oven to 375° F. Spray a baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray or lay a silicone baking mat on it; set aside.
Add all of the ingredients to the bowl of a food processor. Process until a thick paste forms.
Using your hands or a cookie scoop form the pumpkin mixture into small balls and place them 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheet. Press them down lightly to form patties that measure about 2" across.
Bake the patties in the preheated oven for about 10 to 12 minutes or until golden and crispy.
- Yields: 4-6 servings
- Preparation Time: 20 minutes