Falafel

This is a hybrid of two recipes — one from The Gradual Vegetarian, by Lisa Tracy, and one from The Moosewood Cookbook, by Mollie Katzen — with a little improvisation thrown in ‘cos I didn’t have all the necessary ingredients to make either version and wasn’t in the mood to go to the grocery store tonight.

This is a vegan recipe, meaning it counts toward No. 60 (try one vegan recipe per week) on my 101 Things list … and because it was great, it also counts toward No. 62 (blog the recipes that turn out well).

Falafel

1 can chickpeas
Five or six baby carrots
Two ribs of celery, cut into chunks
Five or six cloves of garlic
1/4 c. chopped onion (I used frozen, and it worked fine)
1 tbsp. lemon juice
2 tbsp. cumin
1 tbsp. paprika
A little ground red pepper
3 tbsp. dried parsley
1/4 c. flour
Canola oil for frying

Put all ingredients except oil in food processor and process until smooth. Remove batteries from smoke alarm. Turn on exhaust fan. (These are important steps in my house, as I seem to set off the smoke detector every time I fry anything.) Pour about a half-inch of oil into a heavy skillet and heat for a few minutes. Form falafel mixture into 1-inch balls, flatten a bit to make small patties, and fry in hot oil until browned and crispy on both sides. Makes about 30 pieces.

You can serve this with tahini sauce (2 parts tahini, 1 part water, and 2 parts lemon juice) for dipping, or stuff pita pockets with falafel, tomatoes, cucumbers, and tahini or tzatziki sauce to make a great sandwich … but I didn’t have any of that stuff lying around tonight, and I was too lazy to make a Wild Oats run, so I just sprinkled the finished product with a little Jane’s Crazy Mixed-Up Salt and scarfed it down all by itself.

Signs of spring

We’ve got crocus blooming in the front yard. I’ve seen several robins in the past week or so, and Ron saw the scissortails in the backyard the other day while he was splitting wood. I saw some henbit blooming like crazy the other day when I was out taking pictures, and we’ve got purple deadnettle all over our yard.

I had a good morning. We had breakfast at Ann’s Bakery, which I plan to review for Indie Tulsa. I had a very good doughnut, a sausage roll, and an absolutely wonderful creme horn, which got powdered sugar all over the car but was totally worth it … especially since we were in Ron’s car. (Ha, ha!)

When we got home, I put a coat of lacquer on the new house numbers, aired up my bike tires, and installed the basket on my bike. I bought my basket in November or something but never got around to installing it. It’s the kind that slips into a bracket mounted on the front of the bike, so you can take it off easily and use it as a shopping basket when you’re running errands. I’m supposed to work in the Reading Room this afternoon, but when I get back, I’ll probably ride for a little while. I think I’ll plan on two miles. That’s not very much, but I’m really out of shape, and I want to ease into it gradually so I don’t wear myself out and decide it’s too much trouble (like I usually do,  unfortunately).

I have to put on the bee suit and take the menthol pellets out of the hive this evening, too, but I want to wait until the girls get settled in for the evening, ‘cos they’ve been busy all day and are likely to cop a serious attitude if I go out there and mess with the hive before sunset.

Here are a couple more signs of spring:

Not sure what either of these little wildflowers might be, but they’re both tiny and seem to like shady areas.

Emily

UPDATE: I spent the afternoon at the Reading Room, where I picked up a Spanish-language edition of Science and Health (the first step toward No. 5 on my 101 Things list) … rode my bike around the neighborhood … took the menthol pellets out of the hive (I have no words for how much I love the bee suit we bought from Dadant last fall) … retrieved an egg from the henhouse … and am now trying to figure out what I want to make for dinner. Maybe I’ll see if there’s something interesting in The Enchanted Broccoli Forest.