Friday, February 26, 2010

puffy and pillowy

Lookit my perfect pockety pita!

DSCF3461 

I am seriously into this whole wheat pita bread with flax recipe. It’s pretty idiot proof (though I added an extra 10 minutes of resting time after rolling it out for maximum pocketage) and they just kept poofing bigger and bigger! I have so much fun staring into my oven it’s kind of pathetic.

DSCF3462

When I think pita I think “falafel”. At my church there are lots of people from Lebanon and they have this annual falafel sale that is… INTENSELY DELICIOUS. Lacking the skills and ingredients to make the authentic thing (and knowing, honestly, that with the amount of deep fat frying involved it’s probably appropriate that it’s a once a year treat) I took the lazy (but healthy!) shortcut:

DSCF3459   

Do people know if this brand makes other stuff? I dig it!

I didn’t particularly care for either of their suggested cooking methods (frying due to the health and hassle factors, broiling due to the fact that I did that last time I used this mix and they were petrifyingly dry) so I got out my beloved griddle, made my falafel balls, brushed the griddle and the balls with olive oil, and kinda made them pancake style?

DSCF3463

Then I (rather BRILLIANTLY) repurposed the leftover baked tofu topper (which had consisted of miso, green onion, tahini, and water) and added lotsa lemon juice and a bit more water et voila- falafel sauce!

DSCF3460

It is rather difficult to photograph the inside of a falafel pita. I did my best:

DSCF3464 

With lettuce and the sauce (man I wish we had pickles, that would’ve made it perfect). But I have to say… the hot pita and falafel, the crisp lettuce, the wonderful creamy yet tangy sauce… it was goooooooooooood.

I accompanied with some Darling Clementines:

DSCF3467

In other news, Kath is a genius.

I decided I hadn’t had a roasting marathon in far too long (seriously, there’s a point in the autumn when the farmer’s market is at its peak where I just roast everything- stray squirrels beware!). So I had me one. The star of which were “low and slow” sweet potatoes, as described by Kath.

One mammoth sweet tater (8 oz+), thickly sliced, tossed with 1/2 tbsp olive oil, sprinkled with salt and pepper and roasted first for 30 minutes at 350* then for 20 at 400* resulted in the pillowiest, most tender, sweet, sap-y sweet potato goodness I have ever had the pleasure to eat. She used the word “pillowy”, which I really liked!

DSCF3449

Accompanying I made rockin’ roasted chickpeas (1 cup chickpeas+ 1/2 T olive oil+ salt, pepper, garlic powder, chili powder, and a hint of cinnamon at 400 for 25 minutes)

DSCF3450 

And cauliflower (1/2 a gigantic head+ 1/2 T olive oil+ salt, pepper, garam masala at 400 for 25 minutes then 500 for 10 minutes).

DSCF3455

20 comments:

Molly said...

Why have I never thought of roasting chickpeas before? hello?!

oh I love that brand of fallafel!

Genesis said...

I know at our Co-Op they have other products. I actually really dislike this particular falafel mix because yes it was dry and just did not taste right.

you'll have to post your pita recipe. it looks really good.

i roasted chickpeas once with maple syrup and cinnamon and i think i roasted it for far too long. it came out dry and hard as a rock.

Chef Aimee said...

I love chick peas in any form - roasted, friend, plain, in hummus. The ones you made look fantastic!

Abby said...

Looks amazing! I love both pitas and falafel! I need to make some more!!

PJ said...

Oh wow, everything looks so amazing! I am very intrigued by the flax pita recipe.. I'll have to try that soon. Aren't baked falafels the most amazing thing though.. I am sure with fresh pita it must have tasted great. Thanks for sharing.

Gabriela said...

Lovely eats!
Thanks so much for your comment on my blog, Lele... Means the world to me ;)
Oh, and that sweet potato really came shaped like that - cool, huh?
Hahahahaha!
Loved you blog, by the way. The falafel pitas lookes awesome!
Have a great weekend, girl!
Brazilian XOXO´s,
Gabriela

Michal said...

Nom I love falafel. I actually just bought that brand to review so im really looking forward to trying it out :)

Joanne said...

Gotta love the roasted veggies (I know I do). I'm so impressed with your pitas! If my pitas were blowing up like that in the oven, I would be transfixed by them as well.

Anais said...

Oh I LOVE me some falafel!!! I've never tried them from a box, but the ones I made were pretty good I'd say :) I'm still trying to find the perfectly thick pita to eat them in though...

I think I will make me some sweet potatoes following that recipe today :) I've never had all that much success cooking with sweet potatoes!

Gabriela said...

Yummmm I love all your roasted veggies! Chickpeas are the best roasted...so good when they get kind of crunchy! The falafel sounds so good right now, too. I love putting the balls in a huge salad with lots of hummus. Have a great weekend!

Averie @ Averie Cooks said...

thanks for all your contest entries and suppport!

Rachana said...

I love chickpeas but I must admit that I've never roasted them... falafels are one of my fav and am sure wud have tasted great with the pita bread! Have a great weekend!

Andrea @Celery In The City said...

roasting chickpeas..sounds SO good. yum! :)

Schaufele said...

yumm! love falafel!

what's garam masala?

lynn said...

i just LOVE doing a big roasting feast. i worship my oven!

Haleigh said...

I've never tried that brand of falafel. Really, I've only had it ordered out a restaurant. I need to change that. What is the pita recipe that you use?

Heather (Where's the Beach) said...

Those pita pockets look fantastic. YUM. I love chickpeas, need to try your spiced combo.

photodelicious said...

so many things i want to do in this post! 1. roast chickpeas 2. slow roast sweet potatoes 3. make pita !

this may make it onto tomorrow's to-do list :)

Lele said...

Genesis and Haleigh- there is a link to the recipe in the post!

Amie- garam masala is an Indian spice blend. It's sort of a sweet-savory mix, and not too hot. I'm lucky enough to live in an area with a lot of ethnic grocery stores, but I bet you could find it in a Whole Foods, or if you don't have one of those, online.

peony said...

thats such a good way to give flaor to coming like cauliflower!
ahh noo arrow words are diffrent from cross words there abit easier to do than cross words i think thats why i like them ;) haha easier on my brain xxx