Falafel and Garlic Hummus Pizza

Don’t you just love it when a new recipe idea pops into your head, and you realize that you already have every ingredient you need?

Last night, the plan was pizza. Fully loaded falafel pizza. You see, I found myself at a Greek restaurant a little while back with some friends, and after searching the entire menu the only thing I could find that could be veganized was their pizza. (Well, either that or a salad.) So, I asked for a cheeseless pizza, and what I got was an impossibly dry crust scattered with a few slices of tomato and bell pepper. It was not at all the restaurant’s fault, though. I should have gotten creative and asked them to replace the cheese with hummus or baba ganoush. Every experience is a new learning curve!

Needless to say, I’ve been in serious need of some pizza redemption.

All I did for this pizza was take a large whole wheat pita and spread on some basil tomato sauce. Then, I stacked it with layer upon layer of my favorite veggies, topped with some homemade falafels and a drizzle of garlic hummus that I made the other day. Adding hummus to a cheeseless pizza is a fantastic way of giving it that rich, creamy texture.

Here’s the full ingredient list:

• Large whole wheat pita
• Basil tomato sauce
• Sliced up falafel (click here to check out my recipe)
• Garlic hummus (recipe here)
• Mayan sweet onion
• Spinach
• Bell peppers (I sauteed mine in water and soy sauce)
• Tomato slices
• Green beans
• Crushed chili peppers, black pepper, and Cajun spice sprinkled over top

Then, I just put this in a pan with the lid on and let it simmer at low heat on the stove for about 15 minutes. No oven required. When I was ready to eat, I raised the temperature to get the crust all crispy, and that’s all there was to it. Extremely satisfying, oil-free, vegan pizza in no time at all!

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Oil-free Vegan Falafels (with a twist!)

I’ve been craving falafels lately (I mean, who doesn’t from time to time?!), so I decided to have a go at making them at home. The ready-made ones in the supermarkets are quite pricey plus they are deep fried in oil, so I figured it was pretty much a win-win if I could successfully make some oil-free versions at home. Healthier, cheaper…and surprisingly delicious if I do say so myself!

This is different from the standard falafel recipe, as you may notice. I mixed in some Indian spices, plus I used a cheesecloth to separate the chickpea “milk” from the chickpea pulp. I then used the milk afterwards for an exciting vegan cheesecake recipe which I’ll be posting about shortly!

Here are the ingredients I used for the falafels:

• one cup dry chickpeas
• sweet Mayan onion
• fenugreek leaves (a handful of parsely would be more conventional, but I love the taste of fenugreek)
• tahini
• garam masala
• madras curry powder
• cumin
• ajwain
• crushed chili pepper
• black pepper
• salt
• starch (if needed to help hold the mixture together)

I started by soaking the chickpeas overnight. A traditional falafel recipe would then blend the water and the chickpeas together with all of the ingredients, but instead, the next morning I blended the chickpeas and the water until smooth, and then used a fine cheesecloth to drain out all the chickpea milk and set that aside for my dessert recipe!

Draining out the milk

chickpea milk

chickpea pulp

Into the chickpea pulp, I mixed the rest of the ingredients listed above. Then, I just rolled the mixture into little balls and then grilled them up until they had a nice crispyness on the outside. That’s really all there is to it!

All the ingredients mixed in, and ready to grill!

I served this with homemade hummus and a simple tahini sauce. For the tahini dressing, I just mixed together the following:

• tahini
• lemon juice
• fresh garlic paste (garlic powder would also work well)

Just for fun, I also tried making these mini falafel donuts. Same recipe, same process…but cuter.

Salsa Rice with Guacamole

For tonight’s dinner I cooked up some brown GABA rice & about a quarter cup of multi-grain mix…then I actually mixed in some fresh salsa and added a layer of guacamole on top. I wasn’t sure what to expect but I loved it!

Here it is, complete with a few slices of mini portobello mushrooms, a tofu stuffed pepper, and a veggie falafel =)

– The mushrooms I sauteed in a drop of oil, then added a tiny bit of sesame oil for taste, along with hot sauce and some salt & pepper.