Falafel Burgers with Tahini Dressing

Whoever came up with the idea of falafel should be give a Nobel prize. Do they do that? Give out Nobel prizes to people who discover the most amazing combination of ingredients?

Well, they should.

These here are lightly pan fried falafel patties sandwiched in between home made pitta breads with a wonderfully nutty tahini dressing.

Of course, our veg. I used tomatoes, Japanese cucumbers, arugula and onions inside my burgers. Can you still call them that? Pitta-gers? Falafatties?

Falafatties, hmmm....

Homemade pitta bread

1 tablespoon active dry yeast
1 tablespoon of sugar
1/2 cup of warm water
4 cups of bread flour
2 teaspoons of salt
1 cup of warm water
1 tablespoon of olive oil

Dissolve in the yeast and sugar in 1/2 cup of warm water and set aside, covered, for 15 minutes. Dissolve salt in the remaining 1 cup of warm water.

In a large mixing bowl, add flour and make a well in the center. Add yeast mixture and salt water. Knead with hands for 10 minutes in the bowl. Add olive oil and continue to knead until all oil is absorbed. Shape into a ball in the bowl, cover, and place in a warm area to rise until doubled in volume (2 hours). Punch down the dough and knead for 5 minutes more.

Preheat oven to 175°C, and lightly oil baking trays.

Take pieces of dough slightly larger than an egg and roll out on a floured surface to a thickness of 3/8 to 1/4 inch. (For larger or smaller pita bread pieces, take more or less dough). Prick the bread with a fork in several places.

Place on baking sheets and bake at 175°C on the lowest oven rack for 2-3 minutes, then turn the pitas over and bake for another 2-3 minutes. Remove from oven and place on a tray and cover with a clean dishtowel. When thoroughly cooled, pitas can be stored in plastic bags in the refrigerator, or frozen.

Falafel patties

1 1/2 cups cooked garbanzo beans (chickpeas), coarsely pureed
1/4 cup loosely packed parsley leaves, finely chopped
2 tablespoons chopped green onions and tops
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 cup plain flour
1 1/4 tsp ground cumin
salt and pepper, to taste
olive oil cooking spray

Mix garbanzo beans, parsley, chopped green onions, garlic, lemon juice, flour and cumin in bowl, season to taste with salt and pepper. Shape mixture into 4 'burgers'

spray a large skillet with cooking spray; cook over medium heat until hot. cook 'burgers' until browned on the bottoms, 3 to 4 minutes. Spray tops of 'burgers' with cooking spray; turn and cook until browned on other side, 3 to 4 minutes.

Arrange 'burgers' in pita breads; drizzle scant 2 tablespoons Tahini dressing over each 'burger'. Garnish with chopped cucumbers, tomatoes, arugula and onions, if desired

Tahini Dressing

1/3 cup yogurt
2-3 tablespoons tahini (sesame seed paste)
1 small garlic clove, minced
1/2-1 tsp lemon juice

combine all ingredients; refrigerate until ready to use

Have two, have three.
hell, have four.

i did.

Orange and Carrot Couscous

The original recipe called for pumpkins instead of carrots. But since the fate of my pumpkin was already decided, i had to make do with carrots.

I made half of the recipe and it was already a lot, so be warned if you are intending to make the entire thing!

Couscous with orange and carrot

1 1/2 cups (250g) Couscous
3 cups (750ml) water
750g pumpkin (or carrots), chopped coarsely
1 tbsp olive oil
2 medium brown onions (300g), chopped finely
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 tsp grated orange rind
1/2 cup (125 ml) orange juice
1/3 cup (50g) coarsely chopped dried apricots
1/2 cup (80g) dry roasted almonds, chopped coarsely
1/4 cup (15g) thinly sliced fresh mint

1. combine couscous and the water in a medium bowl; stand about 15 minutes or until the water is absorbed

2. Meanwhile, boil, steam or microwave pumpkin (or carrots) until tender; drain.

3. Heat oil in large frying pan; cook onions and garlic, stirring over medium heat about 3 minutes or until tender and browned lightly.

4. Add rind, apricot, Couscous and pumpkin (or carrots); stir until heated through.Add salt to taste. Serve sprinkled with nuts and mint.