Falafels with salad and cucumber mint dip

Falafels are originally from Egypt and make for a nice easy party food, lunch or starter. You can make them in advance and freeze them. Fava beans are dense with nutritional value with no fat or cholesterol and contain high concentrations of thiamin, potassium, iron, copper, selenium, zinc, magnesium, phosphorous, vitamin K, vitamin B1 and B6. Abundant with fibre they don't seem to have the same 'excess gas problem' that other beans can have. They are also a very inexpensive source of lean protein for vegans. 

Falafel recipe:

Makes 12

Prep time 10-15 mins plus over night soaking of beans.

250g dried split fava beans (soak overnight in filtered water with a couple of pinches of salt)

4 cloves of garlic

Half a leek finely chopped

6 spring onions finely chopped

Rind of lemon and juice of half a lemon

1 egg 

Tbsp chickpea flour

Half tsp bicarbonate of soda

1 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp ground cumin

Half tsp turmeric

2 tbsp fresh chopped parsley

2 tbsp fresh chopped coriander

2 tbsp sesame seeds

Half tsp chilli powder

4 pinches of Himalayan salt

2 pinches of pepper

2 tbsp coconut oil for frying

Dip:

100g yogurt

Few tbsp chopped mint

Cubed cucumber

Salad:

Lettuce leaves

Cucumber

3 small sweet peppers

Green olives

Apple cider vinegar and virgin olive oil for dressing

Method:

Rinse soaked beans under the tap, add beans and all other ingredients apart from spring onions and sesame seeds to food processor and blitz. Add spring onions at the end for a bit of texture. Put sesame seeds on a small plate. Shape falafel mixture into small round balls then flatten and press both sides into sesame seeds. Put in fridge to harden for about 15 ~ 30 mins. Prepare salad and dip. Then fry falfels in coconut oil for a few minutes each side. Afiyet Olsun!

Always buy organic when you can....