Falafel Fritters

I am discovering things. Obvious things, but still, new ideas to me.

The weather has been getting warmer and I am starting to notice the familiar smells of barbecue grilling. I love cookouts, but it often means that I am bringing store-bought veggie burgers to friends' and relatives' homes as they grill burgers, brauts and steaks. Over the years, I have found veggie burger brands and varieties that I enjoy, but this will never be a food that I love. I have just come to accept that being vegetarian during BBQ season means eating a veggie burger a couple times a week. (Though I have stumbled upon a few restaurants that offer "house-made" black bean burgers that are mouth-watering and craving-inducing. I also love it when people put a beautiful piece of fish on the grill - an animal I will happily consume for some inexplicable reason).

I don't know why it never occurred to me before, but it was recently brought to my attention that soy and tofu food products are highly processed - making them the opposite of a "whole food." This caused my brain to work at retraining some synapses. I've also taken for granted that tofu was healthy and an essential part of a vegetarian diet. Store-bought veggie burgers are laden with soy.

I don't think I will ever give up tofu entirely, I have grown to like it. It makes a wonderful addition to stir fries and other "tossed" dishes, but cutting back on my consumption of this "non-whole food" is definitely a summer goal. I am also on the hunt for a delicious black bean burger recipe so I can pre-make and take along homemade goodness to all the summer cook outs.

Until then, I have stumbled upon another tasty item to substitute between the burger buns. I have started calling them Falafel Fritters. This variation on Falafel is beginning to become a regular part of the dinner menu rotation. Last night, I served them with potato wedges and spinach salad. I wonder if they'd hold up on a grill?

Falafel Fritters, Cajun potato wedges, spinach salad and mango.

The recipe:
(Courtesy of my Reader's Digest The Vegetarian Cookbook)
12 oz carrots (I have no idea how much this is, I used about a 1 1/2 cups) grated or finely chopped
1 clove garlic (chopped)
1 large bunch of fresh cilantro (not this time of year! I subbed in a cap full of dried parsley)
1 15 oz can chickpeas (I used dried beans. After they were soaked and boiled, I measured 2 cups)
1 1/2 t cumin
1 1/2 t coriander
1 large egg
2 T flour
oil for frying

The recipe provides specific directions on how to mix all this together. I tend to view a recipe as a basic guideline for getting started and make my own decisions from there (I also do this with the directions to board games - which drives my husband nuts). I just stuck everything in the food processor and it came out looking like this:

straight from the food processor

Then, I just formed patties and cooked for a few minutes on each side. This time we ate ours as open-faced sandwiches on the bread from a previous post. But they are also good between burger buns, flat breads and pitas!

A side note: While quite tasty, these fritters can be a bit on the dry side. Any suggestions for moistening them up (aside from melting a delicious slice of cheesy goodness over the top)?