Take a typically un-fun food like falafels and make mini pita sliders that are injected with fresh ingredients and tons of flavour! Adding mushrooms and almond meal make these little morsels moist and the creamy maple tahini sauce might just be your new favourite dip. These gluten-free baked falafels would also be a great protein-packed lunch without the pita or eaten as a salad with the hemp tabbouleh.
Makes 14 sliders
Ingredients
Baked Falafel
- 1 Tbsp. ground flax
- 3 Tbsp. water
- 1 cup sliced mushrooms
- 1/2 cup sliced onion
- 3 garlic cloves
- 1 Tbsp. olive oil
- 1 x 398 ml can chickpeas(approx. 1 3/4 cup)
- 1/4 cup vegetable stock
- 1 Tbsp. lemon juice
- 1/4 cup curly parsley leaves
- 1/2 cup almond meal
- 1/3 cup chickpea flour
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- 1 tsp. ground cumin
- 1/2 tsp. chili powder
- 1/2 tsp. sea salt
- 1/4 tsp. ground pepper
Hemp Tabbouleh
- 2 cup curly parsley
- 1/4 cup finely chopped red onion
- 1/4 cup diced tomato
- 3 Tbsp. hemp hearts
- 1 Tbsp. olive oil
- 2 tsp. lemon juice
- sea salt & ground pepper to taste
Maple Tahini Sauce
- 1/4 cup tahini
- 1/4 cup water
- 1 Tbsp. lemon juice
- 1 tsp. apple cider vinegar
- 1 Tbsp. maple syrup
- 1 tsp. garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp. sea salt
Mini Pita Bread
Directions
- Preheat oven to 375 F.
- Combine ground flax with water and refrigerate for 10 minutes to allow the mixture to thicken.
- In a pan heated to medium, sauté mushroom and onion in olive oil for 3-4 minutes then add garlic and cook for another 1-2 minutes. Add this mushroom and onion mixture to a food processor with rinsed and drained chickpeas, the thickened flax and water mixture and remaining falafel ingredients. Process until everything is well combined and the mixture comes together as a thick batter. Take approximately 1 1/2 tablespoons of the mixture and form balls. Place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake for 30 minutes, flipping the falafels halfway through.
- While the falafels are baking prepare hemp tabbouleh and maple tahini sauce. For the tabbouleh, finely chop parsley leaves, add to a bowl along with remaining ingredients and stir to combine.
- For the maple tahini sauce, place all the ingredients in a high-powered blender and combine until smooth.
- Warm up the mini pitas in the oven during the last couple minutes of baking the falafels. To assemble the falafel sliders, cut mini pitas in half and spread maple tahini sauce on the inside of the bottom half. Place hemp tabbouleh on top, then a falafel, and dollop with more maple tahini sauce. Serve immediately.
Nutrition facts per falafel Calories 142; protein 7g; fat 5g; carbs 19g; fibre 5g.
Nutrition facts per tabbouleh serving Calories 194; protein 8g; fat 8g; carbs 25g; fibre 4g.
