Recipe: Crunchy Red Swiss Chard Falafel

[crafty_packrat]

From my Independence Day Cook-In (all recipes from Purple Citrus and Sweet Perfume)

Crunchy Red Swiss Chard Falafel
4 T olive oil
1 red onion, finely chopped
2 t ground cumin
¼ t ground allspice
1 pound red swiss chard, well washed and roughly chopped
1 cup (scant) milk
1 cup (scant) chickpea flour
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 T cooked (canned) chickpeas
3 T lemon juice
Vegetable oil for deep frying
Ground turmeric for garnish
Tahini, lemon, and sumac sauce (optional)

1. Heat 1 T of olive oil in a skillet and sauté the onion, cumin and allspice over medium heat for 3-4 minutes. Set aside in a bowl.


2. Fill a large saucepan with water and bring to the boil. Drop in the chard and blanch for 2 minutes. Drain immediately and, once they're cool enough to handle, squeeze dry.


3. In a medium non-stick saucepan, bring the milk to the boil, then reduce to a simmer. Little by little, whisk in the chickpea flour until you have a smooth paste. Keep the mixture moving to avoid lumps. Then season, add the remaining 3 T olive oil and cook over low heat for 8 minutes, stirring all the time with a wooden spoon. Like cream puff dough, the mixture will come away from the sides of the pan and become a ball as it is heated.


4. Cool the ball of paste, then mix in the sautéed onions, chickpeas, lemon juice and blanched chard. Using your hands, mold the mixture into golf-ball-sized balls and arrange on a baking sheet. Refrigerate a couple of hours.


5. In a large saucepan, heat 2 inches of oil to 350°F. Carefully place the falafel into the oil and cook for 3-4 minutes, until golden brown. Remove with a slotted spoon and place on paper towels to drain.


6. Sprinkle with the turmeric. Serve with the tahini sauce if desired.

Tahini, lemon, and sumac sauce

3 T tahini paste
1 t ground cumin
Juice of 2 small lemons
2 garlic cloves, chopped
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
½ t crushed sumac
2 T olive oil
1 t black sesame seeds

1. Mix the tahini, cumin and the lemon juice in a bowl. Slowly stir in 1-2 T of water, a little at a time, until you have a consistency that resembles thick cream. Then add the garlic, and season.


2. Combine the sumac with the olive oil and drizzle over the sauce. Sprinkle with sesame seed and serve, with meat, poultry, vegetables, or falafel.

Notes: We didn't make the tahini sauce, because neither of us could find sumac ... we found za'atar, which contains sumac, but not sumac by itself. Also, I'd make the falafel rather smaller than 'golf-ball' sized, since some of ours were a bit mushy in the middle even though they were crispy brown on the outside -- still tasty, though.