Chickpea-Harissa Cakes with Lemon-Dill Dip

I'm not usually a creative cook -- I read cookbooks, I follow recipes.  But, on occasion, I can find inspiration by looking through my fridge and cupboards. Today, I challenged myself to use up a bunch of stuff in preparation for our move. Here is the result. Recipes included!

Spicy Chickpea-Harissa Cakes - sort of like baked falafels, but with the spicy chili flavor of harissa. These are soooo good.

I served the cakes with a Lemon-Dill Dip. This would also be a good dip for potato chips or carrot sticks.

Spicy Chickpea-Harissa Cakes (makes 10)

1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

1/2 small white onion, chopped

2 Tbsp. harissa

2 Tbsp. flour

1 Tbsp. lemon juice
2 cloves garlic, chopped

1/2 tsp. salt

1 Tbsp. olive oil for brushing

Preheat oven to 400F. Combine chickpeas, onion, harissa, flour, lemon juice, garlic and salt in your food processor bowl. Mix until it has a smooth consistency like a thick hummus, scraping down the sides as needed. Form into small patties and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Flatten each patty slightly with your spatula. Lightly brush each patty with olive oil.

Bake for 20 minutes at 400F. Flip patties and brush with olive oil. Bake 10 minutes and remove from oven. Serve with Lemon-Dill Dip.

Lemon-Dill Dip

1 12-oz. block silken tofu

2 Tbsp. lemon juice

2 cloves garlic

1/2 tsp. dried dill

1/2 tsp.salt

Combine all ingredients in food processor. Thin with soymilk if desired.

I also made Horseradish Potato Pancakes -- my first go at making potato pancakes. I'm not ready to share my recipe on this one, since my mixture was on the gummy side. I'll work on it. Potatoes love horseradish. So do I!

Check it out -- John and Jill over at Vegan Backpacker have started a new program called Vegan Cuts. Sign up and you'll receive a weekly email featuring deals on vegan products and services.

Also, Molly of Vegan Flower has over 250 blogs already on her new Vegan Blogs List. It's quite a compilation -- I've found several new blogs to start following. If you have a blog, you can contact her and get yours listed.

Urban Vegan Tester #10 - Cumin-Harissa Dipping Sauce

Today I tried out a new food item called harissa.  It's new to me, anyway.  Harissa is a North African condiment, a paste made from hot chili peppers, garlic, salt and olive oil. I found this brand, called Cap Bon, at Whole Foods.

I used the harissa to make a dipping sauce found in the Urban Vegan's upcoming cookbook. The spicy, creamy sauce tastes just fine on a seitan burger, but it really excels as a dip for sweet potato fries. Its heat is a perfect match for the sweet potatoes' intrinsic sweetness.

If you're someone who habitually adds hot sauce or crushed red pepper to your food, I encourage you to seek out your own little can of harissa!