This recipe is a guest recipe from my pal, Marisa. She makes me birthday cakes and cooks me really good vegetarian food even though she can cook real people food. This one is one of them…a vegetarian recipe, but real people like it too.

1 14 oz can chickpeas, rinsed and drained

2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes (or to taste)

1/4 - 1/3 c olive oil

1 clove garlic, minced

Juice of one lemon 

Handful of tender herbs (basil, tarragon, chives, parsley), minced

Mix all ingredients together.

Let marinate at least 8 hours, overnight is best. 

Uses: add to cooked pasta with Parmesan and lemon. Fancy toast. Eat by the spoonful. Add to eggs.

These falafel are pretty great because of their versatility. You basically just need 2 cups of greens of your choosing, some beans and some nuts. There are things like spices and a bit of flour and baking powder in there, but the recipe is fairly interchangeable. When you change the beans, say from garbanzo to black beans, you change the palette and end use of the falafel. Spices to match the beans and you’ve got a base for many a meal.

Rocket Falafel

2 c. packed greens, stemmed (arugula or wild rocket is my favorite, but parsley, spinach, a combination of spices like dill, mint, oregano, chives also work well)

3.5 oz. shelled pistachios (walnuts would also work)

1 c. garbanzo beans (white, kidney and black beans would also work)

1/2 T. flour (all purpose or a gluten free sub)

1/2 t. baking powder

Splash of olive oil and or lemon juice

Spices (cumin, curry, salt, paprika…whatever flavor you are going for with your falafel)

Pulse greens for about 20 seconds in a food processor to break down. Add nuts and pulse until the greens have taken on a nutty appearance and/or the nuts have taken on a green appearance. Add rinsed beans, spices, baking powder, flour and blend until a ball forms. If the mixture is very dry, add your oil and/or lemon juice to get the mixture to something you can form small balls out of.

Form your falafel and put on prepared and lined cookie sheet. Bake at 375 for about 15 minutes. Should make a dozen +/- falafel depending on the size you rolled.

Serve however you intended. Black bean base are great in tacos, garbanzo base falafel are good with yogurt dill sauce and naan, you get the idea.

Share your falafel endeavors and variations at #VHWWrecipes

Adapted from Green Kitchen Stories

Besides bind weed and quack grass, it seems the only thing we can grow this year are radishes. So many that they are self-harvesting by popping out of the ground. And you don’t leave a radish behind. But I am running out of things I can put radish on. So we pickle it.

Note: this recipe is intended as a quick pickle, in other words not canning version or shelf stable.

Pickled Radish

5 oz radish, sliced or de-stemmed and whole

3/4 C. apple cider vinegar

1/2 t sugar

1/2 t salt

spices of your choice (mustard seed, pepper corn, rosemary, red pepper flake)

In the container you are picking to pickle in, combine all ingredients except radishes. Put the lid on and shake to combine. Par-blanch radish by pouring a kettle of boiling water over them in a colander. Add drained radish to the jar of vinegar mix. Put the lid on and put in fridge. Use within a week or so.

Good on tacos, stir fry, ramen.