High Fiber Friday: Falafel & Greek Yogurt Dill Sauce

Yay, it’s Friday!  I feel like I’ve done a million things in the past 5 days so I’m very excited for this weekend, even though the weather is supposed to be less than ideal and I could really go for a little time at the pool right now.  I’m thinking Sunday might be a perfect day to lounge around and catch up on some of the 500 shows I have on my DVR box (which is mostly the 2 months of General Hospital I’m backed up on).

So a little bit ago I made my very own falafel for a High Fiber Friday post – and then lost all the photos I had taken… or so I thought.  Luckily, on my 7 hour airplane ride to London last week, I found them!  Yay!

For those of you not familiar with falafel, it is a super flavorful ball or patty made from ground chickpeas.  Chickpeas, also known as garbanzo beans, have 12 grams of fiber per cup! This was my first homemade falafel attempt and it was so easy (thanks to my food processor) that I’ll never get the boxed mix again!

I processed the bulk of the ingredients first and then added a little whole wheat flour to make it more of a paste.

I then formed my little falafel patties using a falafel maker that my friend let me borrow! How cute is it!

You can pan fry them but I chose to really fry them since I wanted the full falafel experience.  In they went into a pan of hot oil.

After a few minutes, I flipped the falafel over to let the other side cook.  While they were happily frying away, I made a yummy Greek yogurt dill sauce, also in the food processor!

It’s so flavorful and healthy! I recommend loading your falafel up with this dill sauce and then using the leftovers as either a dip for veggies or salad dressing!

I served the falafel on  whole wheat buns since I didn’t have pita bread – success!  Each patty packs 11 grams of fiber (and that’s not even counting the fiber in your whole wheat pita and added veggies!)  We should aim to have 25 gram per day.  1 patty has almost half the recommended amount!

Here is the recipe for both the falafel and sauce:

Ingredients

Falafel

• 2 -15 1/2 oz canned chickpeas, rinsed and drained
• 1/2 cup onion, chopped
• 1/2 cup parsley or cilantro, fresh, chopped
• 4 medium garlic clove, minced
• 2 tsp. ground cumin
• 1 tsp. fennel seeds
• 1/2 tsp. table salt
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 3 T whole wheat flour
• 2 T fresh lemon juice
• 2 T water
• 6 whole wheat pitas or flatbread
• lettuce, tomato and additional veggies to pile on top

Greek Yogurt Dill Sauce

• 12 oz. 0% Greek Yogurt
• 1 medium clove of garlic
• 2 medium cucumbers, peeled, seeded and diced
• 2 T lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp.  dill
• 1/2 T mint
• 1/2 T cilantro
• 1/8 tsp. salt

Well, I’m done with work and class for the day so it’s time for the gym and then dinner with some friends!  I hope you’ve all had a great Friday the 13th!  Yay for the weekend!