Beet Falafel with Dill Tzatziki
BEET FALAFEL WITH DILL TZATZIKI
Serves 6-8
Takes 1 hour, 30 minutes
Beet Falafel
2 beets, shredded (3 cups)
2 cups soaked, dried chickpeas, uncooked
4 scallions, cut into large pieces
4 garlic cloves
⅓ cup dill leaves
¼ cup mint leaves
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cumin
½ teaspoon coriander
¼ teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon tahini
Dill Tzatziki
1 cucumber, peeled
1 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
¾ cup dill, minced
1 tablespoon mint, thinly sliced
1 garlic clove, minced
1 cup full-fat Greek yogurt
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Serve With:
6-8 pitas, store-bought or homemade (if you’re feeling ambitious)
1-2 cups hummus, store-bought or homemade (if you’re feeling ambitious)
Simple cucumber, tomato, and scallions salad (tossed with olive oil, red wine vinaigrette, salt, and pepper), optional
Microgreens, optional
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
Shred beets using food processor attachment or a hand-held shredder. Dump into a large bowl.
Change out the food processor blade so that the S-blade is ready to chop. There may be some residual beets in there. Don’t worry about it. We’ll be mixing everything together anyway. Add chickpeas, scallions, garlic, dill, mint, salt, baking powder, cumin, coriander, and black pepper. Pulse until the mixture is minced but not pureed. Add to the shredded beets and stir to combine.
Add half the beet chickpea mixture back into the food processor along with the tahini. Process until it comes together and then add the rest of the beet chickpea mixture. Continue processing until everything comes together smoothly, but there is still plenty of texture and chunkiness.
Place the beet chickpea mixture in the fridge to rest for 15 minutes.
After resting, scoop a heaping tablespoon of the mixture into your hands and shape firmly into a ball. Place on the baking sheets (about 15 per sheet) and put in the oven. Bake for 15 minutes, flip, gently press down, and bake an additional 15 minutes until browned and cooked through.*
While the falafel bakes, prepare your tzatziki. Halve your cucumber, remove seeds, and shred into a fine mesh strainer. Sprinkle with ½ teaspoon salt and let drain for 20 minutes.
Place drained cucumber in a medium bowl with remaining ½ teaspoon salt and all other sauce ingredients. Stir to combine.
Serve warm beet falafel with dill tzatziki, pita, hummus, a simple salad and greens, if desired.
*You can also fry the beet falafel if you like. This will provide a fluffier, more traditional flavor. To do this, heat an inch of oil in a skillet over medium high heat. Once the oil reaches 350 degrees, reduce heat to medium. Cook falafel in oil for 2 minutes, flip and cook an additional 1-2 minutes until browned on all sides.
