.................. Cooking with Barry & Meta: Petite Chick Pea Steaks (Falafel) served w/ Kale Salad & Cucumber Sauce

Crispy and delicious, this Middle Eastern dish traditionally referred to as Falafel, is made from chick peas (garbanzo beans) that are seasoned with lots of spices and lightly fried. Cucumber Sauce (Tzatziki) cools and refreshes the palate while providing a wonderful balance to these meatless steaks.

I fried just half of the steaks and left the other six for tomorrow’s lunch. And, since we have fresh garden kale, I used it as the base this dish. Chopped up fine, kale makes a wonderful salad base.

As far as taste, Barry was a little worried but gave these steaks a thumbs up! "Not quite a beef filet, but pretty darn good," he said. In my opinion, they have a similar consistency to the salmon patties that my mom makes, and they even taste "meaty."

Petite Chick Pea Steaks (Falafel) served w/ Kale Salad & Cucumber Sauce Makes 12 small steaks

1 (15.5 oz.) can garbanzo beans (chick peas)

1 to 1½ teaspoons coriander seeds

1 to 1½ teaspoons cumin seeds

2 to 3 tablespoons dry bread crumbs

¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 clove garlic, smashed and finely chopped

Zest of l lemon

½ of a yellow or white onion, finely minced

About ¾ cup finely chopped fresh parsley

½ to 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves

Kosher salt and coarse pepper

1 egg*

Flour, for dusting

Oil for frying (I used a combination of canola & olive)

For serving:

Stemmed and finely chopped kale

Diced tomatoes

Lemon juice and EVOO, such as The Tasteful Olive’s Extra Virgin Olive Oil + a sprinkling of Kosher salt

Cucumber Sauce (recipe follows)

Lemon Wedges

In a food processor, pulse the drained chickpeas until they look coarse and grainy but are NOT a puree.
In a dry sauté pan, toast the coriander and cumin seeds over medium heat until they are very aromatic, 3 to 4 minutes. Pulverize in a spice grinder until they are a powder. Although, toasting and grinding the seeds, will give you maximum flavors, equivalent amounts of already ground coriander and cumin could be used.

Toasting the seeds and then pulverizing in a spice blender (we use a coffee grinder that is used solely for spice grinding) add another layer of flavor.
Transfer the pulsed chickpeas to a mixing bowl and add the bread crumbs, cayenne, garlic, lemon zest, onions, ground spices, and fresh thyme. Gently stir to combine. Taste the mixture to see if the mix needs seasoning; add salt and pepper or adjust other seasonings if needed.
Add the egg to help bind the ingredients; mix. *Instead of an egg, save back a little of the pulsed chick pea mixture and pureé it with enough of the liquid drained from the can of chick peas; add enough to bind ingredients.
Form about 3 tablespoons of mixture into balls and gently press to make patties. Lightly dust with flour on both sides, patting off excess.
Place the patties on a sheet tray and refrigerate at least 1 hour; could be prepared a day in advance.
Add oil to a skillet until the oil is about ¼-inch deep. Bring the oil to a medium-high heat. Add the chick pea steaks to the pan and fry them on both sides until they are brown and crispy. Fry in batches and avoid overcrowding pan.
Remove the falafel from the pan and place on paper towels.
To serve: Arrange finely chopped kale on a plate, top with chopped tomatoes and lightly drizzle with olive oil and a squeeze of fresh lemon + a dash of Kosher salt. Add several mini chick pea steaks and top with Cucumber Sauce. Add a wedge of lemon on side for squeezing over steaks.

Cucumber Sauce

About ½ to ¾ cup plain yogurt

1 mini cucumber or ½ of a regular cucumber, seeded & finely chopped

1 teaspoon dried dill weed

1 teaspoon fresh lemon

1 to 2 tablespoons mayonnaise

Sprinkle of dried red pepper flakes

Kosher salt to taste

Combine all ingredients in a bowl; stir, taste and adjust seasoning as needed.

Recipes without photos . . .