Cauliflower Cashew Nut Falafels

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This weeks recipe of the week is a wonderful collaboration with Sara McCleary from Belly Rumbles – A culinary Adventure. Sara made for us a delicious Baked Cashew & Cauliflower Falafel using AW ingredients. Working with Sara on this was an absolute pleasure and she has some great recipes on her site if you’d like to explore. Enjoy these fabulous falafels.

Serving Size : 24 falafels

Falafel Ingredients:

300g of cauliflower (cooked until just tender)

1 cup of raw cashews

1/2 bunch (1 cup) of parsley

2 green onions (shallots), sliced

1 clove of garlic, chopped

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 1/2 teaspoons ground coriander

1 teaspoon of sea salt

1.2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 cup spelt flour

1 cup almond meal

Cucumber & Yoghurt Sauce Ingredients:

2 Lebanese cucumbers, deseeded and finely diced

1/4 cup fresh mint leaves

1 heaped cup of yoghurt

Method:

1. Pre-heat your oven to 180’C fan forced and line a baking tray with baking paper.
2. Place the cauliflower, cashew nuts, parsley, green onion, garlic, coriander, cumin and salt in a food processor (or blender/bullet style blender) and process on high speed until all ingredients are smooth. (Note: You may need to scrape down the sides of the bowl to ensure all the ingredients are processed).
3. Scrape the ingredients into a medium size bowl.
4. Mix through the spelt flour and almond meal until well combined.
5. Using wet hands, roll tablespoons of the falafel mixture into balls and place on the lined baking tray. Leave 2 cm between the balls.
6. Place in the oven and bake for 30 minutes, or until browned and cooked through.
7. For the Cucumber & Yoghurt Sauce mix all the ingredients together in a bowl and chill in the fridge before eating.
8. Serve the falafel with some fresh spelt pita pockets, quinoa tabouli and cucumber and yoghurt sauce with lemon wedges.

Tip: For a gluten free option omit the spelt flour and make sure you use a gluten free baking powder. Without the flour the mixture will not be able to be hand formed into balls and baked, but it is perfect for frying as is.

Note: The mixture is sticky. Make sure you use wet hands when rolling your falafel balls for baking. Sara rolls near to the sink leaving a little water running to trickle over her hands ever few rolls. If you don’t wet your hands the mixture will stick to you like chewing gum to a shoe.

Note 2 : Leaving space between the falafels allows for even baking and browning. Don’t be tempted to overcrowd the tray. Bake you balls in a couple of batches if needed for the best results.