Food: Falafel Pita

We have a favorite vegetarian meal around here – the falafel pita. I got the basic recipe from Cooking Light, and I can’t imagine a better treat. It’s a quick meal for a weeknight, or it can be a really nice lunch. We like to make the grape salad with it as a side dish, but it would also be nice with tabbouleh or hummus and an additional pita. Here’s my modified version of the dish. (Note: It pairs well with the Bertagna Sangiovese Rose, but it would also be very nice with a lighter bodied chardonnay. For beer drinkers, try it with Stella Artois.)

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup dry breadcrumbs (I make our own from bread we have on hand or use panko crumbs)
• 1/4 cup fresh chopped cilantro – or basil both work very nicely in this dish
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground red pepper
• 4 garlic cloves
• 1 large egg
• 1 15 ounce can chickpeas (garbanzo beans) drained and rinsed
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 cup plain low-fat yogurt
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons tahini
• 1 minced garlic clove
• 1/2 teaspoon dill
• 4 six-inch whole-wheat pitas
• lettuce and tomatoes

1. To prepare falafel, place first 8 ingredients into a food processor. Process the mixture until it is smooth and has an almost peanut butter like quality. Divide the mixture into 16 equal portions and pat into small patties. Wet your hands if necessary to keep mixture from sticking.
2. Heat olive oil in skillet and add patties once it’s hot. Cook about 5-7 minutes on each side over medium high heat until the patties are browned.
3. Prepare sauce by mixing yogurt through dill together with a whisk. Let stand while patties cook.
4. In each pita pocket, place one and a half tablespoons or so of sauce, patties, lettuce and tomatoes.

Serves four.

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