Falafel is a scary word to the uninitiated. Say it to most people and they will make a face and say, “what is that?” But falafel is delicious. Especially stuffed inside a fresh pita with lots of veggies and tzatziki sauce.

Falafel is made from a mixture of soaked, ground up chickpeas, flour, onion, garlic, seasonings and herbs. While falafel is not an inherently unhealthy food, it can be if made the wrong way. When you buy falafel from a greek restaurant or street vendor, the balls are generally fried, served on white pita, and slathered with tahini sauce and tzatziki.

The first time I made falafel, I fried it. It was great and I was kind of sad that it could only be an occasional treat. Then I read that you could bake it instead of frying and I was intrigued. I decided to try it on the next batch. I found that the difference in flavor was negligible and baking the balls on a cookie sheet was much faster than deep frying them. To further “healthify” the meal, I omitted the tahini sauce, which contains a lot of fat. Instead I used tzatziki made from low fat greek yogurt. I stuffed it all into a white whole wheat pita and filled it with extra tomatoes, lettuce and cucumbers. And the result? It tasted just as good as the first batch and it was easier to boot.

Baked Falafel
This recipe for the falafel balls is adapted from this Epicurious recipe. The only real difference is, the balls are baked and not fried. I also like to double the recipe so I can freeze some for later. Note: You do not cook the chickpeas in this recipe. I know this sounds strange, but just go with it. I promise, it works.

2 cup dried chickpeas

1 large onion, roughly chopped

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

2 teaspoons kosher salt

2 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes

8 cloves of garlic

2 teaspoon cumin

2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 cup flour

oil, for greasing the pans

For serving:

sliced cucumbers

chopped tomato

lettuce

Tzaziki sauce (recipe below)

1. Place the chickpeas in a large bowl, covered by two inches of water (the bowl will seem much too large, but the chickpeas will expand a lot). Soak the dried chickpeas overnight (at least 18-24 hours) and then drain and rinse them.

2. Preheat the oven to 375 F.

3. Place the chickpeas, onion, parsley, cilantro, salt, red pepper flakes, cumin, garlic, baking powder and flour in a food processor and process until well blended.

4. Grease two large cookie sheets (my falafel stuck a little bit to my cookie sheet, so you may want to use a silicone baking mat if you have it, or I suppose you could line the pan with parchment). Using a small ice cream scoop, scoop the chickpea mixture and place it on the cookie sheet in rows about an inch apart (alternately you could roll the mixture into balls the size of walnuts, but the scoop really speeds up the process—I highly recommend using it).

5. Taste the mixture and adjust for seasonings.

6. Bake the falafel for about 20 minutes, or until they feel dry and firm. If they stick to the pan, allow them to cool some before trying to remove them.

7. Stuff each pita with 3 or four falafel balls, lettuce, tomato, cucumbers and a generous dollop of tzaziki sauce.

Tzaziki Sauce

16 oz low fat or fat free greek yogurt

1/2 of a seedless cucumber, grated

2 cloves of garlic

3 tablespoons fresh herbs of choice (dill, mint, parsley or cilantro)

juice of 1 lemon

Salt and pepper to taste

1. Combine all the ingredients in a small bowl.

2. Taste and adjust seasonings.