Eating With the Seasons: Falafel Waffle and Mediterranean Salad

The waffle iron is one of the most neglected kitchen gadgets. Sure, it seems fun— you put one on your wedding registry, you make waffles once or twice, then it sits on the shelf next to the ice cream maker while you grab a banana before work every day. It is seemingly the least versatile thing you could possibly own: it makes one recipe, that you really only eat in special circumstances where you have time to make a massive batch of batter before 10 am.

Well, that’s how ours has been until recently, when our almost-two-year-old decided he really loved making breakfast every single morning. Leaving the waffle iron out on the counter every day got me thinking of new ways I could use it, and that brought me to a memory of a dish I had at a restaurant in Gainesville: a falafel waffle.

This is not a recreation of that dish, because I can’t remember anything about it. This is just a tribute, to the greatest falafel waffle in the world.

Kelly and I collaborated on this dish more than some of the other recipes we’ve featured on the blog as well. I came up with the waffle recipe, while Kelly made the salad. The pairing is perfect for spring evenings. It is bright, flavorful, fresh, and satisfying without being too filling. Likewise, this recipe is definitely best to make with the labor split between two or more people. There is an unprecedented (in this blog, at least) amount of chopping ahead. Don’t go it alone!

A note on the salad: This recipe will make you a ton of salad. Way too much. That’s by design: you have to use a lot of ingredients to make it, so you might as well use everything you just bought and have some left over. When we make it, we like to save half of the salad and serve it with a grilled chicken breast the next night. So, don’t overload your waffles! Just throw a couple scoops on and know you have a meal prepped and ready to go in the fridge.

Ingredients:

Falafel Waffle:

·      26 oz Chickpeas (we used two boxes, drained and rinsed)

·      ¼ cup flour

·      4 cloves garlic, chopped

·      ½ large onion, chopped

·      2 egg whites

·      1 cup parsley

·      1 tbsp cumin

·      2 tsp salt

·      1 tsp ground black pepper

·      ½ tsp cardamom

·      2 tbsp olive oil

·      Splash of water as needed

Tzatziki Sauce:

·      ½ large cucumber

·      1 cup Greek yogurt

·      2 tbsp apple cider vinegar

·      ¼ cup dill

Salad:

(All ingredients chopped to roughly uniform size)

·      1 cup parsley

·      ½ large onion

·      ½ large cucumber

·      1 cup tomato

·      1 cup radish

·      4 oz feta cheese

·      ½ cup olives

·      ¼ cup honey

·      2 tbsp apple cider vinegar

·      2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Equipment:

—    Waffle iron

—    Blender or food processor

—    Large mixing bowl

—    2 Small mixing bowls

—    Large spoon

Falafel Waffle Recipe:

 

—    Drain and rinse the chickpeas. We use boxed chickpeas to save time. If you’re using dry chickpeas, you’ll have to soak them for 24 hours first.

—     Roughly chop the onions, parsley, and garlic.

—    Separate two egg whites and discard the yolks.

—    Add all ingredients (including the spices) to a blender or food processor. Using the pulse setting, make the batter. Use short bursts and scrape the sides of the blender to make sure you don’t have a lot of whole chickpeas lingering.

—    Depending on the moisture content of your chickpeas, you may need to add water. I keep a cup or two of water near the blender and slowly add a couple splashes at a time until I get the right consistency. Be careful not to make the batter too thin: it should be something you have to scoop and scrape, not pour.

This is the perfect texture for your falafel mixture.

—    Scrape the falafel batter into a mixing bowl and set aside while you make the rest of the recipe (continued below). Now is a good time to start warming up your waffle iron too.

—    Once the sauce and salad are done, use a large spoon to scoop batter into each side of the waffle iron. We typically make two to four waffles from this recipe, so eyeball about a quarter of the batter per waffle.

Start with a large scoop in each half of the iron and then press down firmly to spread it. Don’t try to spread it around with a spoon, it’ll get messy.

—    Press firmly on the waffle iron to spread the batter. It won’t disperse on its own as easily as a traditional waffle batter.

—    Cook times may vary based on your waffle iron, so watch for the amount of steam to settle down and then check your waffle. You’re looking for a golden brown, but not burned, coloring on the top.

—    Carefully remove your fawaffle from the waffle iron. It won’t be as firm as a traditional waffle, so use a large rubber spatula. Top with salad and tzatziki and eat immediately.

Tzatziki Sauce Recipe:

—    While your waffle iron is heating up, chop a cucumber into small, bite-sized pieces.

—    Combine cucumber, dill, Greek yogurt, and apple cider vinegar.

—    Taste it! You might want to add a little more of one ingredient or another. Once it’s to your liking, put it in the fridge until the waffles are ready.

Mediterranean Salad Recipe:

—    Put on a long record or a podcast, maybe now is the time to check out a new audio book from the library. You’re going to be here a while.

—    One by one, chop every vegetable. You want more or less uniform sizes on each piece so nothing becomes overpowering, texturally or flavor-wise. Put everything in a large bowl.

—    Crumble the cheese, by hand, into the bowl. We use about half of an 8 oz block of feta.

—    Add all of your liquid ingredients, and then mix thoroughly. Set aside until the waffles are ready.