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Last updated on November 16th, 2020 at 03:34 pm
I am on fire with those lentils, aren’t I?
Like 50 Cent said in his song Candy Shop: So seductive. I bet he was actually in a lentil shop, drooling all over the place over those caramelized chocolate covered lentils.
These mint-lentil falafels though. Who wouldn’t start drooling over them? I won’t judge you.
I mean what’s not to drool about with spicy crunchy flavorful mint-lentil falafels, combined with a vibrant crunchy salad and a dipping sauce that’s made out of my two favorite things in life – garlic and roasted peppers? And all of this wrapped in the warmest finest pita breads you can imagine?
HEALTH AND BEAUTY BENEFITS
These lentil falafels might not be done in less than 30 minutes, but they’re worth the work.
They’re vegan, gluten-free and absolute health freaks with beauty benefits to boot.
Thanks to those lentils these lentil falafels are:
- high fiber
- high-protein
- high iron
- cholesterol-lowering
- muscle growing
- skin clearing.
And with peppermint, broccoli, onions, garlic, carrot, pepper, flaxseeds and sesame seeds on board these falafels make a nutritional force to be reckoned with.
I don’t even need to mention that these ingredients have these amazing properties:
- detoxifying
- anti-bacterial
- anti-viral
- anti-cancer
- antioxidant
I’m not gonna argue that cooking doesn’t get the level of antioxidants lower than Lil Jon, but still the losses are not complete and these falafels are still antioxidant-loaded and are a tasty way to get your veggies, protein and fiber at once.
Mint-Lentil Falafels
Ingredients
For the falafels
- 2 cups of red lentils – soaked over night
- 1 cup of mint leaves
- 2 onions
- 3 garlic cloves
- 1/2 cup chopped broccoli florets
- 1 carrot
- 1 pepper
- 2 tbsp sesame seeds
- 2 tbsp hot dried peppers/ hot dried paprika
- 2 tbsp flax seeds – ground and mixed afterwards with 6 tbsp water
- 1 tsp salt
- olive oil/other oil for frying
For the salad
- 1 cup chopped green cabbage
- 1 carrot
- 10 olives
- handful arugula
- handful parsley
- 1 fresh onion
- 1 fresh garlic
- 1 pepper
- 1 small cucumber
- 1 tbsp balsamic
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- salt to taste
Additionally
- 4 – 6 pitas
- my roasted peppers dip
- or my avocado dill dip
Instructions
For the falafels:
- Put all the raw soaked lentils into your food processor and blend them thoroughly. Then transfer the processed lentils into another bowl.
- Chop onions, garlic cloves, broccoli florets, carrot and pepper. Add the chopped vegetables and mint leaves into the food processor and process almost until homogeneous.
- Then add to this mixture in the food processor – the lentils, sesame seeds, hot paprika salt, flax eggs (2 tbsp flax seeds (ground) mixed with 6 tbsp water) and salt.
- Blend everything well together.
- Start forming walnut-sized balls from the mixture.
- Then fry in a pan at medium high heat, without a lot of fat – the pan should just slightly be covered with oil. I used olive oil. Put the balls carefully into the pan and slightly press them – now they’re not balls, but patties (they cook faster). After 2-3 minutes, turn the patties carefully around. Fry another 2-3 minutes and take out on a plate. Repeat around 24 more times and you’re ready.
For the salad
- Chop all the vegetables, put into a big bowl add olive oil and balsamic and mix everything well. Add salt to taste.
Serving
- Serve falafels in a pita with the salad and some of my avocado dill dip or my roasted peppers dip.