The Salad of Awesomeness

As healthy food goes, you don’t get much healthier and tastier than this. I used to hate salads until I figured out how to make them properly. I practically live on this. There is a simple plan to this salad:

1. Use the best ingredients you can get.
2. Minimise the amount of green leafy stuff.
3. Put a decent amount of protein in it.
4. Use a killer vinaigrette.

The salad pictured above would feed me, but really these are proportions for two people. The ingredients are as follows:

• 4 Spring Onions chopped
• 1 carrot finely grated (with some ginger grated into it too for some kick)
• 1/2 bell pepper, chopped small
• Several cherry tomatoes halved (quarter if you are using larger tomatoes)
• 1/2 cup of chopped coriander
• 1/2 cup of chopped rocket (though don’t chop it up as much as the herbs)
• Some finely chopped parsley (not too much its quite strong)
• 1/2 cup of chopped mint

Douse at least 1 tablespoon of vinaigrette over everything. I refined my Super Simple Vinaigrette precisely for this salad. You don’t have to mix or toss the salad too much.

Finally add in all the fun protein food:

• 2 boiled eggs
• A palm full of diced Feta cheese
• A few spoons of soft goats cheese (this mixes delightfully with the salad)
• Whatever else you have to hand (hummus often ends up in my salads, as well as leftover food, like falafels or vegetarian curries).

This is a great salad. The things that make it great are using fresh herbs to replace the leafy content. Proper vinaigrette is essential, as well as using flavourful ingredients. All the protein makes it a meal. If you hate salads, try this and see if it changes your mind.

Making Falafel

Tonight I went about making Falafel. This is a fun dish thats easy to enjoy and scale up to multiple people and large groups. Though it can be tricky to make if you are doing it for the first time, or if you do not have access to a really good food processor.

I have used a few recipes in the past. Many insist on frying or deep frying them, but if you haven't made the falafel patties right, they can fall apart easily. This is the recipe that I used:

For the falafel:

• 4 cups of chickpeas
• 1 cup of chopped fresh coriander
• 1/2 cup of chopped fresh mint
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 2 teaspoons of ground cumin
• 2 teaspoons of baking powder
• 2 teaspoons of tobasco sauce
• 2 tablespoons of tahini
• 4 spring onions, chopped finely
• 1 cup of breadcrumbs

• Several pitta breads depending on your number of guests

For the side salad:

• 1 carrot, finely grated
• 1/4 courgette, finely chopped
• 1/4 pepper, finely chopped
• 6 cherry tomatoes, quartered
• Some rocket, chopped roughly
• Tahini sauce, or some suitable dip (like raita)

Step 1: In a food processor, blend the coriander, mint, garlic and spring onions until finely chopped.

Step 2: Add the chickpeas, breadcrumbs, baking powder, cumin, tobasco sauce and tahini and blend until the mixture has a very fine consistency.

Tip: If you are having a hard time blending the mixture (the chickpeas are well tough). Add in some olive oil or lemon juice to get everything moving again. A good food processor makes a lot of difference here.

Step 3: Wet your hands and start to shape the mixture into small balls. They should be sticky and hold together well. It is better to make them smaller rather than bigger, no more than 4cm wide when slightly flattened. You should be able to get over 20 small falafel patties out of the food mix above.

Step 4: At this stage you have a choice of cooking methods: Frying, Deep Frying or baking. If you are a novice, calorie conscious, or your falafel are not holding together perfectly, bake them. Simply place them on a baking tray that has been brushed with oil, and use an oil spray to lightly coat them. Place in a pre-heated oven for 10-15 minutes, then remove and turn them so that they get browned on both sides.

Step 5: Wet the pitta bread, and place them in a toaster, or bake them.

Step 6: Cut open the pitta breads (hopefully they have inflated making them easier to do so). Place a mix of the side salad within them, along with as many falafel that will fit, and top off with sauce.

Serve and enjoy.

Leftovers

Leftover falafel are a nice addition to salads, even when cold. They have a nice bread like consistency by themselves (but I wouldn't go dipping them in soups).

Variations

I doubt if this recipe is particularly authentic. Tahini is generally called for in authentic falafels. However you have to add a lot in to get the flavour though as the spices tend to dominate. Also, you need a really good food processor or a lot of patience with a hand blender - tahini is very sticky. You will need to increase the oil a lot to make the blending easier.

If this takes your fancy this recipe will stop being a healthy treat (thats a lot of calories you are adding in). It will likely be stickier though and they may survive better if you are frying them.