Breaking the Rules

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by Hannah (BitterSweet)
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Though I wouldn’t necessarily call myself out-and-out rebellious, I just hate rules. Especially when those rules are so pointless that following them only leads to close-mindedness. Sound a bit out there? Bear with me.

Every case of food snobbery I’ve witnessed thus far has revolved around certain unwritten commandments against preparing food differently than it is traditionally, or “properly” done. Just think about that for a minute… Doesn’t that sound ridiculous? Where would we be if no one deviated from the recipe, whether it be with an additional pinch of nutmeg or by switching out the flours for something different entirely? What about modern fine dining? Do you think these chefs learned how to use methylcellulose from their grandmothers, that knowledge passed down through the generations? I could be wrong, but I think not.

Of course, when confronted with such revolutionary concepts and approaches, it may still take some time for me to warm to the idea. Gazing into the refrigerated cases recently at a vegan cafe, something on the top shelf caught my eye: Raw falafel. Defined as “a fried ball or patty made from spiced chickpeas and/or fava beans“, it was hard to grasp how this creation before me was related, as it was neither fried nor made of chickpeas. In fact, it wasn’t even cooked at it; It was raw.

However, at the end of the day, the question was not, “Is this a falafel, or isn’t it?” but “How on earth did they make this thing?!” It was simply delicious, no matter what you called it. And that is the reward of successfully breaking the foods rules.

Rushing home to recreate this new found delight, I was already breaking the rules again in no time.

Drawing inspiration from those revolutionary bean-less falafel, but tweaking the execution to my liking, my spiced spheres are actually baked, but could just as easily be made raw if desired. Just slightly crispy on the outside, but lusciously tender and moist on the inside, they’re a welcome change of pace from the typically heavy, often grease, fried variety.

I served mine up in a quick little salad with a drizzle of tahini dressing, but they’re perfectly at home in a traditional pita bread as well, if you must.

Yield: Makes About 30 Falafel

Sunflower Seed Falafel

Sunflower Seed Falafel

Skip the beans and try seeds to shake up your falafel routine! Lightly crisped on the outside but lusciously tender and moist on the inside, they’re a welcome change of pace from the typically heavy, often grease, fried variety.

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 Cups Raw Sunflower Seeds, Soaked Overnight (or at least 8 hours)
  • 2 Tablespoons Dried Parsley
  • 2 Tablespoons Fresh Chopped Chives, or 1 Scallion
  • 2 Tablespoons Tahini
  • 1/4 Cup Fresh Lemon Juice
  • 1 – 2 Cloves Garlic
  • 1 Teaspoon Ground Cumin
  • 1 Teaspoon Salt
  • Pinch Black Pepper
  • Pinch Paprika

Instructions

  1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with either parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
  2. Pull out your food processor or blender and toss in everything except for the paprika. Pulse, pausing to scrape down the sides of the bowl to get everything incorporated, until the mixture is the consistency of a rough pate or chunky peanut butter.
  3. Using a small cookie scoop, or two spoons, portion out 1 rounded tablespoon of the sunflower paste per falafel onto your prepared baking sheet. Sprinkle just a tiny pinch of paprika on top of each raw falafel, and bake for about 20 – 25 minutes, until lightly browned.*
  4. Serve warm, or let cool and store in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to 1 week.

Notes

*To make these raw, simply pop them into a dehydrator instead. I’m no expert on these things, but it could take between 6 – 10 hours. Just keep checking on them (and let me know about your results!)

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Nutrition Information:

Yield:

30

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 42Total Fat: 4gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 456mgCarbohydrates: 2gFiber: 1gSugar: 0gProtein: 1g

All nutritional information presented within this site are intended for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and any nutritional information on BitterSweetBlog.com should only be used as a general guideline. This information is provided as a courtesy and there is no guarantee that the information will be completely accurate. Even though I try to provide accurate nutritional information to the best of my ability, these figures should still be considered estimations.

© Hannah Kaminsky
Cuisine: Fusion / Category: Main Dishes and Entrees

 

65 thoughts on “Breaking the Rules”

  6. What a great idea! I don’t have the ingredients right now, but I’m totally going to try this in the dehydrator. Thank you!! I will report back.
    xo
    Eco Mama

  7. It looks so good! Melody, who doesn’t eat anything these days due to her pickiness, just said “Mmmmmmm!” when she saw the picture on the computer screen. LOL!

  10. Sounds delicious as always Hannah. I absolutely adore Falafel. One of my guilty pleasures is going out to the local Kabob House at lunch and ordering a yummy pita sandwich with Falafel, lettuce, and tomato and copious amounts of their yogurt dressing. Just thinking about it, I’m salivating.

  11. Your recipe sounds wonderful. But unfortunately, Don wouldn’t. When we have hummus at our house, we call it “bean dip”, and he loves it. I wonder if your recipe would freeze. I would like to make it, but 30 seems a lot for just me.

    Thanks.
    Cas

  12. Good for you! This is the part of the pollan debate I’m a bit confused about since if I ate like my granny ate I’d be eating white bread sandwiches, lots of cake and no dinner!

    Anyways, looks like a delicious recipe, since I’m trying to lose weight I’m a little concerned about the calories but I may give it a try, I’m guessing they are rich enough to satisfy with a small amount…

  13. Ahh this is SO my kind of recipe!! Sounds delicious, I can’t wait to try it!! I want to incorporate more raw recipes into my rotation and this would be perfect!! Keep up the rule breakin’ :)

  19. My husband loooooooves falafel. Haven’t tried making it raw yet (I did start once, but ended up with raw cookies instead, haha).

  20. You’re absolutely right… Most rules are meant to be broken at some point otherwise life would become … well, boring probably! And these falafels looks absolutely delicious! I’ve never made ‘real’ falafel myself but I might just have to start with these instead. They look better then the fried ones to me!

  24. Typically, I try to make a recipe according to the recipe the first time. Just so I know what it would be like if I didn’t tweak it. If it’s just delicious the way it is, fine…but that doesn’t mean I won’t tweak it, anyway! Breaking the rules is half the fun of cooking, isn’t it?

  25. I’ve decided that I shouldn’t look at your blog when it’s too late for me to want to cook! These look really, really good. And your photography is stunning.

  26. Ohhh man. If only every time I broke the rules it turned out this FABULOUS. I think this is pure genius and I can’t wait to give it a try. They look so delicate and beautiful, but I bet the flavor packs a real punch. Thank you!

  27. what!? this sounds awesome and i absolutely love anything sunflower seed-tasting! i’m ridiculously excited about trying this one. what a great alt-falafel recipe!

  28. Those look and sound delicious! I absolutely have to try making them — thanks for experimenting on behalf of all the falafel lovers but fried food haters out there!

  31. Sometimes breaking the rules is necessary and highly recommended. I think this might just be one of those times. These sound amazing! I love falafel.

  37. Funny, I recently read about raw falafels and thought, “Wow, I’d love to try those!” Your recipe sounds delicious and that photo–stunning!

  44. Absolutely agree about the “rules”. There are no rules in cooking, as far as I’m concerned – only the taste test. Your stuff always passes mine and everyone I cook for.

  48. You’re the coolest :) This looks ever so pleasant. I’m going to have to get my hands on sunflower seeds (or I can pick them out of my trail mix bag. Ha ha).

  50. These were great! I dehydrated them for ~8h and OH MY they are tasty. I had them on top of a wonderful green salad and a balsamic vinaigrette.

  51. Hannah, what a great idea. I completely agree with you about the importance of thinking outside the square with food. You hear and read so many instances of people insisting there is only one way to make a dish. When this is actually rubbish. There are few really meaningful rules around food. Instead, there are always several different ways of cooking something, as well as opportunities to adapt a recipe and make it your own.

    Little baked falafels made from sunflower seeds – lovely, lovely idea.

  55. Hannah, you’ve done it again! I’m unable to eat “traditional” (deep fried chickpea) falafel, and I MISS IT!!! (I have Crohn’s and for whatever reason, traditional falafel sets it off viciously) Just made a batch of these and they are delicious, and I can enjoy falafel whenever I want–yay!!! Not to mention these are much lighter in taste and nutrionally, not being deep fried. THANK YOU!!!! The oven toasts these up really nicely and deliciously.

  59. I recently made a salad with these raw falafel because I needed a way to use up all the frozen sunflower seeds I had. I was really surprised how well they held together. They were a great addition to my lunch. :)

  62. Hanna,
    I have to say that I have now made these over 20 times and they are officially my favorite recipe of yours! Thanks!

  64. […] I used a recipe I stumbled upon on Pinterest, but basically cut it in half and modified it if I didn’t have an ingredient, like paprika. The original yields 30 falafels which would make mine 15 falafels. However, they were too small so I made 10 instead and adjusted macros in Myfitnesspal. Here is the link to the original –> Sunflower Seed Falafel […]

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