HEALTHY MIDDLE EASTERN VEGAN DINNER

HELLO HELLO!

From a very young age, my parents taught me to love middle eastern food. My childhood snacks were hummus, babaganoush (aubergine salad), olives in olive oil and Arabic bread. The family fridge was full of this stuff! And not only in my house, over at my grandparents and uncles/aunts most of the meals were Arab as well, it was and still is Ravachi tradition. Thankfully my husband grew up with this same culinary background and till this day I can say that I eat middle eastern meals at least 3-4 times a week. 

Unfortunately this type of food can be a bit heavy on the stomach. Traditional middle eastern recipes like falafel and aubergine are usually deep fried and can consequently cause the feeling of bloatedness. However, for the good of my belly and family, I’ve learned (with much trial-and-error) how to transform my favorite arab dishes into healthy and easy to digest meals. So today I’m going to be sharing with you one of my top dinner recipes: chickpea and eggplant falafel in tahini sauce.

STEP 1: FALAFEL. 

Ingredients: 

• 1 cup of chickpeas, preferably organic ones. 

Note:  I leave them soaking in water for 24 hours, so that they can easily be chopped  in the processor. However, if you’re in a hurry you can use canned chickpeas.

• 1 chopped onion

• 1/2 cup of parsley

• 1 garlic

• 1/2 cup almond or oat flour

• ½ teaspoon of salt

• 1 pinch of pepper

• Nutritional yeast, add to taste (optional)

• 1 tablespoon of olive oil

• Ground cumin, add to taste (optional)

Instructions:

Safely place all the ingredients in the food processor. Blend until smooth. Then, use your hands to scoop out about 2 tablespoons of the mixture at a time and shape it into small patties. Place each falafel on an oiled pan. 

STEP #2: AUBERGINES

Ingredients:

• Eggplants
• Salt to taste
• Pepper to taste
• Olive oil
• Nutritional yeast

First, cut the aubergines in half, then marinate them on the inside with the 4 ingredients mentioned. Put it all on a pan. 

STEP #3: BAKE 

Put the falafels and aubergines in the air fryer or oven. If you’re going to use an air fryer set it to 350 degrees and leave it  for 12 minutes all together. If you rather use an oven be sure to preheat it for 10 minutes at 180 degrees, and put everything in for 10 to 12 minutes.

STEP #4: TAHINI SAUCE 

Ingredients:

• 2 teaspoons tahini paste
• 2 teaspoons of water
• 1 pinch of salt
• ½ garlic
• 1 tablespoon of olive oil

Instructions:

 Put all the ingredients in the blender and voila!