We were so excited to find Hannah Kaminsky’s recipe for Sunflower Seed Falafel.  We love falafel, but rarely eat it anymore because chickpeas tend to cause quite a blood sugar spike.  Sunflower seeds, however, do not. According to nutritiondata.com, a cup of sunflower seeds has 28 grams of carb.  If our math is right, that means 10 sunflower seed falafel balls should have only 14 grams of carb.  Can’t beat that.  Skip the pita bread and toss the falafel onto a salad like Hannah did.  We recommend trying this fantastic lemon tahini dressing on the salad.Â
What’s also terrific about this recipe is that the falafel is baked, not deep fried. Â Hannah says, “Just slightly crispy on the outside, but lusciously tender and moist on the inside, sunflower seed falafel is a welcome change of pace from the typically heavy, often greasy, fried variety. – Jessica Apple
(7 votes, average: 3.57 out of 5)Loading...Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups raw sunflower seeds, soaked overnight (or at least 8 hours)
- 2 tablespoons dried parsley
- 2 tablespoons fresh chopped chives, or 1 scallion
- 2 tablespoons tahini
- 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
- 1 – 2 cloves garlic
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- Pinch black pepper
- Paprika
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with either parchment paper or a silpat.
- Pull out your food processor or blender, and toss in everything but the paprika. Pulse, pausing to scrape down the sides of the bowl to get everything incorporated, until the mixture is the consistency of a rough pate, or chunky peanut butter.
- Using a small cookie scoop, or two spoons, portion out 1 rounded tablespoon of the sunflower seed paste per falafel onto your prepared baking sheet. Sprinkle just a tiny pinch of paprika on top of each raw falafel, and bake for about 20 – 25 minutes, until lightly browned.*
- Serve warm, or let cool and store in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to one week.
Notes
*To make raw sunflower seed falafel, simply pop them into a dehydrator instead. I’m no expert on these things, but it could take between 6 – 10 hours. Just keep checking on them (and let me know about your results!)
Photo by: Hannah Kaminsky