Food, Feminism, & life

Falafel Patties

I had been thinking about making this recipe for a long time, and finally gave it a shot one night when I was having a major falafel craving. The results were amazing & they came together very fast. Normally falafel is deep fried, but these are lightly pan fried & finished in the oven. Serve them in a pita with lettuce, tomato, cucumber, and tzatziki sauce for a major comfort food dinner.

*The points listed are for the falafel patties only.

Falafel Patties

Servings: 4 ● Points Plus: 3

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cup canned chickpeas (1 can), completely drained
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 small onion, coarsely chopped 
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1/2 Tbsp cumin
• 1 TB ground coriander
• 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
• 1/2 cup parsley leaves, coarsely chopped
• 1/4 cup cilantro leaves, coarsely chopped
• 1/8 tsp kosher salt  
• 1/4 tsp black pepper 
• 1 Tbsp olive oil

Directions:

1. Place chickpeas in a food processor & pulse until roughly chopped. Add all other ingredients and pulse until blended. Refrigerate the “dough” for 15 minutes.

2. Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.

3. Heat a non-stick pan & spray with olive oil spray. Form the dough into 12 patties and cook each one in the pan until the outside is crispy.

4. Transfer cooked patties to a baking sheet. Bake for 6 minutes then flip patties and cook another 6 minutes. Remove & let cool a bit.

5. Serve patties in pita with lettuce, tomato & any sauce you like (I like tzatziki or tahini sauce).

*Pita & sauce will add points!

Asian Peanut Noodles with Chicken

This recipe is adapted from Gina’s Skinny Taste. I am in love with her recipes, but I always tend to change them up a bit. I can’t seem to follow a recipe step-by-step for the life of me. I always end up adding things or completely changing something. For this recipe, I used less rice noodles so that it would yield larger portions per serving. I also didn’t have scallions or bean sprouts in my cabinet, so they were left out.

Peanut noodles are one of my favorite things from Chinese restaurants but I stopped ordering them years ago for a few reasons: 1) I can’t have white pasta. 2) I can’t have sugar (and they’re loaded with sugar from restaurants). 3) Holy fattening.

I used pre-shredded carrots & broccoli slaw for shortcuts with this recipe. You can use the leftover shredded vegetables for other great recipes during the week. I’ll try to post a few ideas later.

Asian Peanut Noodles with Chicken:

Servings: 4 ● Points Plus: 8 per serving.

Peanut Sauce:

• 1 cup reduced sodium/fat free chicken broth
• 3 TBSP natural peanut butter
• 1 TB creamy peanut butter
• 1 TB sriracha chili sauce
• 2 TB agave nectar
• 1 TB fresh grated ginger
• 2 cloves garlic, minced

Chicken:

• 13 oz chicken breast, cut into strips
• kosher salt & pepper to taste
• 1 1/2 TB sriracha chili sauce
• Juice of 1/2 a lime
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 TB fresh grated ginger
• 1 TB low sodium soy sauce
• 1 TB sesame oil

Salad:

• 4 oz cooked rice noodles (about 2 oz uncooked)
• 2 cups shredded carrots
• 2 cups shredded broccoli slaw
• 1 lime, sliced into wedges
• 3 TB crushed peanuts

Directions:

1. For the sauce: Combine all of the sauce ingredients in a small saucepan & simmer on low until everything blends together & becomes slightly smooth & creamy, about 5 minutes. If you do not end up with smooth & creamy results it is okay. It’s probably from the natural peanut butter. Turn off the heat once everything is blended & set aside.

2. Boil water & cook rice noodles according to package instructions. Set aside when done cooking.

3. In a mixing bowl, combine all of the chicken ingredients & toss to coat the chicken. In a large non-stick skillet cook the chicken. Once cooked, set chicken aside.

4. In the same skillet, add the broccoli slaw & carrots & saute for a few minutes until they are slightly tender. Add the rice noodles & toss to combine.

5. Add the chicken & peanut sauce to the skillet & toss to combine.

6. Divide onto four dishes & top each with a lime wedge & 1 TB chopped peanuts. Serve warm.

*This recipe is great served cold as leftovers. Especially for lunch!