After last weekend’s not-so-great chickpea soup, Brian and I have determined that chickpeas aren’t mean for soup. I mean, putting them in chili is one thing, but “chickpea soup” is probably not a necessary part of our diet. There are better ways to use chickpeas.
Like in a Falafel Sandwich with Tomato-Cucumber Salad.
First of all, it needs to be expressed that I am no falafel expert. I’m not sure I’ve ever even had falafel before (sorry if that’s upsetting to some of you). But when Matt posts a recipe on No Meat Athlete and says its good and I already have all but 2 of the ingredients in my pantry, it’s hard to say no.
Given my lack of falafel experience, I didn’t have much of an expectation of what these chickpea fritters were supposed to taste like. But the people at Fine Cooking know what they’re talking about and the sandwiches were really good. I think my falafel was a little mushy, but they stayed together well enough to make it into the pita. In my opinion, the tomato and cucumber salad (I substituted one regular tomato for the cherry tomatoes) made the sandwich. And, as usual, super easy. As Matt says, “Make it next time you don’t know what to make when the spouse is on her way home.” Of course, that’s assuming you’re the one that does the cooking, not your spouse.
If you’re curious about those yummy looking fries in the background, you need to make them as well. (But maybe not with the above sandwich…I was so full of falafel that I hardly ate any of my fries!) After having had amazing sweet potato fries on our honeymoon, I discovered a recipe from Food Network to that is almost as delicious. The “secret” seasonings? Chili powder and pumpkin pie spice. Sweet potatoes and yams are super cheap right now, a perfect time to make sweet potato fries.
Enjoy!
