The other day a friend came over with her kids for a last-minute potluck supper and she brought these amazing falafel that I couldn’t stop eating. That was the first time I envisioned this Vegan Quinoa Falafel Bowl. I wasn’t exactly sure which grain I was going to use. Bulghur, Rice…QUINOA! My absolute favorite. How couldn’t it be when I’m half Peruvian. IÂ wasn’t set on which vegetables to add and what kind of “sauce” but my hands just started taking over in the kitchen and they made and made and made things without me even really noticing. I pretty much just had to take notes of what I was making in order to be able to write it all down later on for you. This happens quite a bit to me but not always. Sometimes I sit at my desk, hoping for inspiration and I just keep staring a black whole into the wall trying to fill it with the emptiness of my mind. Lately I’ve been blessed though, for I haven’t had too many blank mind days but rather many creative ones with a lot of inspiration in the kitchen.This is a fusion between Middle Eastern and South American cuisines. The quinoa was cooked in a coriander broth as many Peruvian rice dishes are and then topped with falafel, hummus and fresh tomato and cucumber. I made sure the hummus is not too dense but rather creamy to serve as sauce for the whole bowl. The tomatoes give it the extra wetness necessary and the cucumbers the crunch so many of us love.
The only downside to this dish really is that it requires quite a bit of oil in order to fry the falafel, however, I tried to keep the oil’s temperature low in order not to burn it and was able to trap it in a sealable glass jar afterwards, which I’m keeping in the fridge just in case, and I’m reusing it now every day instead of oil right out the bottle. I hope I’ll be able to finish it all up like that instead of having to toss it.Now let’s get right to the recipe. The falafel are only a slightly different version of the recipe my friend used which is Joan Nathan’s posted on Epicurious.
Vegan Quinoa Falafel Bowl
Ingredients
- 2 cups chickpeas - (soaked for 12-24 hours)
- 1/2 large onion
- 1 hand full fresh parsley leaves
- 2 hand full fresh cilantro leaves
- 1 tsp Salt
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 4-6 tablespoons flour
- 2 cups cooked chickpeas
- 3/4 cup chickpea brine
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 Tbsp tahini
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1.5 cups quinoa
- 1.75 cups water
- 1 cup fresh cilantro leaves
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1 English cucumber
- 3 roma tomatoes
Instructions
- The night before soak about 4 cups of dried chickpeas in abundant water.
- Drain, rinse and drain chickpeas again.
- Add 2 cups of soaked chickpeas into food processor.
- Add the rest of the chickpeas to a large pot, cover with water up to about 1/2" over the top, bring to the boil and once boiling reduce heat to low, cover and let simmer for approximately 30 minutes.
- In the meantime, peel and roughly chop onion. Add to food processor.
- Wash, dry, and finely chop coriander and parsley (only leaves, no stalks). Add to food processor.
- Peel and crush garlic. Add to food processor.
- Add 1 tsp salt, cumin and baking powder to processor and pulse many many times until everything is well combined but not smooth and rather coarse. About sesame seed size pieces.
- Add flour and work in by hand adding as little as possible to be able to form balls without the dough sticking too much to your hands.
- Form golf ball sized balls and place on a parchment paper lined flat plate with enough space in between them.
- Put plate with raw falafel balls into the freezer for 15-20 minutes.
- Add 1 cup coriander leaves (no stalks) to a blender and add 1/2 cup water. Blend until smooth and no big chunks of herb are visible anymore.
- Add quinoa, 1.75 cups water, coriander water and 1 tsp salt to a pot. Bring to the boil and once boiling reduce heat to low, cover and let simmer until all water is absorbed (approx. 15 minutes).
- Heat about 2 cups of vegetable oil with a high smoke point (such as avocado oil) in a pan over medium low heat. This will take at least 15 minutes.
- Wash and chop tomatoes and cucumber. Set aside.
- Once the oil is hot (about 375 F / 190 C), take out falafel from the freezer, carefully add 6-8 falafel balls at a time to the oil and fry from all sides until golden brown. Place fried balls onto a paper towel lined plate to absorb the excess oil.
- Once falafel is fried the chickpeas should be ready, too.
- Add 2 cups cooked chickpeas, 3/4 cup brine, 1/4 cup olive oil, tahini, 1 tsp salt to blender and blend until smooth.
- Serve as shown in the photos. Enjoy!
Nutrition
P.S. watch out for Wednesday’s recipe to use up the leftover cooked chickpeas :)
Mari says
We don’t use a lot of oil in our house. What would you recommend to bake the falafel?
Thanks!
Lorena Grater says
I haven’t tested baking them. Unfortunately, I don’t have any advice.
Cooking Day By Day says
Great Instruction, thank you
Linda Z Braden says
Do you have nutrition information? Specifically calories per serving?
Lorena says
Just added it :)
Joan King says
Where do you put the cilantro with the 1/2 cup water
Lorena says
In the instruction point 13 it says to add quinoa, water, “coriander water” and salt to a pot.
Emily Richardson says
Coriander is a different spice than cilantro, right?
Lorena says
Coriander is the English word for cilantro (Spanish). I’ve noticed that a lot of people use the two words from different languages to differentiate between the ground spice made from the coriander seeds (coriander) and the fresh green leaves (cilantro), so I started using it that way.
Joan King says
Could these be baked
Lorena says
I would think so. I’ve never tried though.
Frances says
Was wondering where you get chickpea brine? Is that just the water after cooking them?
I’m also wondering if I can substitute Almond flour for the all purpose flour?
Lorena says
Yes, exactly, it’s simply the water you cooked the chickpeas in or the water the chickpeas were swimming in the can :) I’m confused about the almond flour. The recipe doesn’t call for almond flour it calls for “flour” and I used all purpose. Forgot to specify :)
Stacy says
Could you use canned chickpeas instead? Thanks so much :)
Lorena says
Yes of course! I usually get about 1.5 cups of chickpeas out of one can so you’ll need a little more than one can.
Syl says
Hi Lorena! I made this tonight and it was delicious! However, I noticed that you listed cumin but it’s not in the directions–should this be included in the hummus? Thank you! :)
Lorena says
Hi Syl, I’m so happy you liked it :D I just corrected the error you noticed (thank you by the way), the cumin goes into the falafel, you add it with the salt and baking powder. Sorry for forgetting to include in the instructions…
Kathrin Botkin says
I made the Hummus yesterday … soooo good and super simple to make. Added a bit of Tahini as I love the Tahini taste. Once the ‘basic hummus’ was done, I divided it up to make various batches with various spices ! DELICIOUS and so much better than store-bought hummus. Thank you !
Lorena says
I’m so glad you liked it :D
Kate says
It looks amazing! I have to prepare such a bowl for lunch one day!!
Lorena says
Today Kate!! Today! :D
Robyn @ Simply Fresh Dinners says
I will confess to wanting to make falafel for ages but I wondered how I could make it look pretty for the camera, lol. Yours is gorgeous and you’ve inspired me, Lorena! This dish is just full of vibrant goodness – love it!
Lorena says
Thank you Robyn!! Yes, I know what you mean. I had to give the presentation of the recipe quite a bit of thought in order for the falafel to not like like p**p, lol
brita says
OMG this looks SO good!! I’ve really been wanting to try out a vegan falafel recipe. I pinned a few different ones but will most certainly be trying this one first! Thanks!
Lorena says
Thank you Brita :D Comments like this really make my day *joy*