FaRAWfel anyone? A fun raw falafel ball recipe to kick of your Meatless Monday.
I’ve been really into raw foods lately. I find that as the weather warms, I like more salads, more smoothies, and lighter, cooler fare. Such choices feel better to me. Raw food fits the bill beautifully, and it energizes me quite nicely. However, there’s no reason we can’t pack our raw goodies with some good old Middle Eastern flair.
Really good falafel can taste meaty. And my raw version tastes very meaty, too!
That’s exactly what my sister Mona and I did with our FaRAWfels. Also known as Raw Falafel. It’s simply a meaty tasting nut pate with Middle Eastern spices tossed in for that special flavah. I noticed a raw taco nut “meat” recipe on Averie’s blog. I tried it and it was awesome. No surprise there. She has great recipes 
.
Then I decided to take her basic template and put the falafel spices into play and see what happened. Good things, that’s what!
Mona and I enjoyed them for dinner atop a raw kale salad topped with my tahini red pepper dressing. We had this delicious meal recently after taking a nice, long walk around one of NYC’s most vibrant neighborhoods– East Harlem, which is also called el Barrio. Before we get to the recipe, take a look at some of what we saw and we strolled around on a Sunday afternoon. I love that the Barrio has tons of murals and little hidden community gardens:
FaRAWfels (Raw Falafel)
Modified from a brilliant nut pate “taco meat” recipe of Averie’s on LoveVeggiesandYoga.com. To keep it strictly raw, use all raw nuts and seeds.
Ingredients:
1/2 cup Almonds
1/2 Cup Walnuts
1/4 Cup Pecans
1/4 Cup Sunflower Seeds
1/3 C Sun Dried Tomatoes loosely packed (I prefer those that aren’t packed with oil. If you used oil packed, you can probably use less olive oil)
2 Tablespoons Middle Eastern Spice Blend of choice (Click here for my blend)
2 Tablespoons paprika
2 Tablespoons za-tar blend of choice (Optional)
2 to 4 Tablespoons of Olive Oil
1 Tsp Salt (or to taste)
Directions:
1. Gather ingredients.
2. To a blender or food processor, toss in nuts, sundried tomatoes, and spices.
3. Add olive oil and blend until the nuts are broken up and the ingredients nicely mixed. Go slow–I like mine a bit on the chunky side, with some whole seeds left. You might need to add a tiny touch of water to get things moving. Go easy if you choose to add water.
4. Roll into balls and serve.
Bria, this is a fabulous idea! I’ve been wanting to experiment with more nut pates and things – fabulkous application. I must give this a whirl!
Woot woot! Glad you approve
Yes, enjoy, and feel free to use different nuts and spices to your taste. It’s more of a method, really, less of a rigid recipe. It’s very filling, too.
This is really interesting. Got to try it! Have you ever tried grilled falafel?
I actually have. It reminds me of a veggie burger. Tell me about the grilled falafel you’ve tried.
Bria
I so enjoyed your walk in East Harlem! Even back when I lived in Soho, I never made it to Harlem; what wonderful murals! I love murals in any city! They give the city a soul, I think; anyway, regarding your falafels, what a great idea! I have a bunch of various nuts in my freezer that I was at a loss on how to use and instead of making cookies and sweet things, I would rather make the falafels. Thanks!
Joumana, that sounds like a great way to use up your overstock of nuts. Feel free to vary the types of nuts used if you need to.
Totally agree about murals giving a city soul. Excellent point.
Bria, this sounds so good and easy to make!
Thanks, darling
We enjoyed them!
Love NYC & the falafels! Thanks for the recipe! Looks great!
I’ll be in NYC this Friday…meeting some friends for lunch at Bouluds!!
Enjoy your lunch Friday., Sara. Sounds awesome. I’ll be working
Have fun with the falafel recipe.
What a perfect choice for summer! So healthy and nourishing and a twist on the traditional falafel.
It must have been really fun creating this with your sister. I am waiting for my sister to visit me so we can make some yummy food. I have all the ingredients, I will definitely make this soon and report back to you!
I love your East Harlem pictures, all the different pockets of NYC make it such a gem of a city. I love it!
Glad you like the photos, Nadia.
Yes, Mona and I had a great time whipping up these falafels. I’m trying to teach her a few easy recipes any college student can fix easily. If you make the recipe, let me know your thoughts. It’s actually more tasty after it sits for a few hours.
Sounds tasty!
I don’t know if the following is new or tried and true, but I’ve been baking my falafel instead of frying . Along the way it’s morphed into “falafel pizza” on whole wheat/bran super thin pita w/o dairy with your choice of veggie toppings and it’s scrumptious.
Uhhh, hello, you’ve been keeping important secrets like this from me? For shame!
I think you need to come over to my place and make this recipe. I’ll seriously feature it on the blog! Do you use a falafel mix? If so, what brand?
[...] tonight, it’s really very good, and great in the wrap. This recipe is my adaptation of the faRAWfel recipe on West of Persia, which is a modification of the “brilliant nut pate taco meat recipe of Averie’s on [...]