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# Oven Fried (Baked!) Falafel

Lately I’ve decided to downsize. Not the house. Me.

However I love falafel. On the other hand, it’s usually fried.

So here is my very yummy, non-fried, healthy, 0 points on the new Weight Watchers Plan Falafel!

Ingredients:

1 | Pound | Dried Chickpeas/Garbanzos/Cici Beans
1 | Small (or 1/4 Large) | Yellow Onion
1/2 | Bunch | Parsley
4 | Cloves | Garlic
1 1/2 | Tablespoons | All-Purpose Flour
1 3/4 | Teaspoons | Kosher Salt
2 | Teaspoons | Cumin Seeds
1 | Teaspoon | Coriander Seeds
1/4 | Teaspoon | Black Peppercorns
1/4 | Teaspoon | Ground Red Pepper (optional)
1 | pinch | Cardamom seeds (or ground)
1 | Tablespoontd> | Olive Oil

Equipment:

| Food Processor
| Spice Grinder or Mortar and Pestle
1 | Baking Steel
1 | Convection Oven

Directions:

##### The day before cooking:

- Put the dried beans in a large bowl or pot and cover with at least 4″ of water. Leave 12-24 hours

##### Cooking day:

- Set the oven to “convection” and preheat the oven and the baking steel to 500°F
- Put all the dried spices into a spice grinder or mortar and pestle and grind to a powder.
- Put the salt, the ground up spices, garlic, onion and beans into the food processor and pulse with the chopping blade (looks like a curved lawnmower blade) until the chunks are about the same size as dried couscous.
- Add the flour and all the parsley and pulse until the parsley is chopped up. Don’t process too much or the falafel will be mushy.
- Take a ping-pong ball sized chunk of falafel mixture and form into a ball then flatten between your palms to form a “flying saucer” shape. Place on the baking
  steel and flatten with your hand slightly.
- Repeat until the mixture is gone or you have enough falafels.
- Lightly brush the tops with a little olive oil.
- Cook until the bottom and top of the Falafel is golden brown.
- Serve immediately with Cucumber-Yogurt Sauce and chopped tomatoes and thinly sliced onions in a half-pita
- If you don’t use all of it, save the uncooked mixture and use the next day. Don’t cook extra balls and reheat, since they’re much better freshly cooked than reheated.

Enjoy!