Rainy Day Falafel and Tabouli

On a rainy Sunday, it’s a given that I’ll spend some time in the kitchen, preparing little things for us to nibble on as we relax and enjoy the gloomy weather (and we do enjoy it, as long as we don’t have to go anywhere!) This time, I decided to make falafels and tabouli.

I followed the Momo’s Falafel recipe from The Garden of Vegan because it’s really fast. You just puree the chickpea mixture in the food processor, form it into patties, and sauté them until golden brown.

To go with the falafel, I prepared the vegan tzatziki sauce from Veganomicon. The cashews and cucumber gave it a smooth, creamy texture, and its strong garlicky, lemony taste is completely addictive.

Finally, I made a quinoa tabouli, simply because I had quinoa on hand and was out of bulgur.

Quinoa Tabouli
1 cup quinoa
2 cups water
¼ tsp. salt
2 small tomatoes, chopped
½ cucumber, seeded and grated
½ carrot, grated
1 cup parsley, minced
2 Tbsp. flax oil
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
½ tsp. salt

Combine the quinoa, water and ¼ tsp. salt in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Cover, turn down the heat, and let it simmer for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, prep your veggies. When the quinoa is done, dump it into your serving bowl and fluff it with a fork. Add the tomatoes, cucumber, carrot, parsley, flax oil, lemon juice, and salt. Stir to combine. I don’t like to serve it when the quinoa is hot, so I stick in the fridge for 30 minutes before serving.