Comments Off on Friday Foodie: Edamame Falafel w/low fat cumin chipotle sauce

Friday Foodie: Edamame Falafel w/low fat cumin chipotle sauce

Category : Healthy Eating

I found this recipe in the May 2012 edition of Martha Stewart’s “Everyday Food” magazine.  It looked simple and absolutely

Edamame Falafel patties

Edamame Falafel Patties

delicious at first glance, but the calorie count was way too impressive:  a serving had a whopping 600 calories.  Falafel is traditionally fried and in my opinion, despite dripping in oil, usually tastes dry anyway.  Here is my variation that drops the calories to only 240 per serving by baking them instead of deep frying them and serves them with my new favorite low calorie sauces.

Ingredients:
1 cup dry chickpeas (2 cups re-hydrated)
2 cups shelled edamame, frozen.
2 teaspoons cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
 
Method:  Put the chickpeas in water and leave overnight.  They should double in volume, leaving you with 2 cups uncooked chickpeas.  To hurry this process up, you can boil the chickpeas in the microwave and allow to sit for 2-4 hours.  Drain.
 
Use a food processor or a blender to mince chickpeas and edamame to a coarse mixture that sticks together when squeezed.
Falafel ready to form into balls or patties

Falafel mixture & sauces

 Thoroughly mix or blend in cumin and salt.
 
Form in to patties and place on a greased cookie sheet.  I like to use an ice-cream scoop for this.  Pop in the oven at 375′ until bottom side is browned, flip, and brown the other side. 
 
Serve in whole wheat pita pockets (or whole wheat tortillas) with diced tomatoes, onions and your choice of the following sauces:
 
Chipotle-Cumin ‘Greek God’ dressing: (6oz plain, nonfat greek yogurt with 1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons of cumin, 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1/2 teaspoon of ground chipotle blended together). This ‘sauce’ has no fat, 18 grams of protein and only 100 calories PER CUP!!!  or 7 calories per Tablespoon.  Compare that to cumin-chipotle mayonaise which weighs in with 12g fat and 110 calories per Tablespoon (or 192 grams fat and roughly 1760 calories per cup).  
 
Coriander Tatziki (speedy version):  Peel and cut a cucumber in half lengthwise.  Scoop out the seeds and toss into a blender with a 6 oz container of plain, nonfat greek yogurt.  Add 1 teaspoon of ground coriander and 1/2 teaspoon of salt.  Blend well.  Options:  Blend in fresh dill or add 1 teaspoon of garlic-ginger paste (available at Indian grocery stores).
 
Another healthy sauce is to add a bit of water to store-bought hummus and to use as a dip.  This is really a good idea if you think about all the flavors now available.