Saturday, April 16, 2011

Quality Assurance (QA) + Falafel Marbles


Once again time has slipped me by… and I am okay with that and I hope you are too it doesn’t mean that I haven’t been cooking or writing it simply means I haven’t had that extra time to post it online… it will come and I make that promise to you.

So one major addition I have made to my blog is adding a “print friendly” button… so you can click that and it will allow you to edit the page before it prints so you can delete the pics and just print the recipe.

Alright every now and then we all need to take the time to do a little QA… make sure that everything is up to standard for the greater good.  In this life we have many roles… for example ask yourself how you define yourself as a person? Are you a mother/father, wife/husband, friend, co-worker, brother/sister, baker/chef, lawyer, fashion designer, health care worker, tradesman, teacher, mail man, daycare provider and so on… what I am getting at is that QA may apply to any area of your life… we could all use a little self-reflection from time to time… it helps as grow as a person and allows us to create paths to achieve our dreams... have you taken any time for self-reflection/QA in the past year?

Now onto…

Simply Pure’s Baby’s 1st Falafel Marbles

1 ½ cups of cooked chickpeas (or 1 can rinsed well)
1 medium onion, sliced
4 cloves of garlic
1 tbsp dried parsley (fresh would work)
2 tbsp whole wheat flour or wheat germ + more if too sticky
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp ground coriander (optional)
½ tsp baking powder
2 tbsp EVOO (extra virgin olive oil)
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp water (or more to get desired texture)
1 large carrot, grated
2 cups of spinach 

1)      Preheat oven to 375F
2)      Add all ingredients into food processor to make a paste like consistency, may need to add a few tbsp of water or flour/wheat germ to get desired consistency, you want to be able to form balls with it and not have it too sticky (putting some flour on your hands will help as well)
3)      Form into marble sized balls, perfect finger food for baby or into ping pong sized balls (for  mom and dad), place in a lightly oiled baking dish and cook for 20-25min depending on size of ball, you want to see outer ball turning golden brown.  QUICK alternative put the falafel mix in a lightly oiled baking pan and bake like a cake, scoop out desired portions
4)      Serve with tahini, whole wheat pita bread and fresh sliced tomato, marble sized balls are also a perfect salad topper for a quick lunch or supper and they freeze well, may also be mashed into baby’s puree with peas and carrots

Enjoy!! These are a real favourite around our household… simply, nutrient rich (iron, fibre, protein all the essentials) and delicious!!

That’s it for today… short sweet and to the point have a great weekend!!

Oh and if you are left wondering about pictures... coming soon… (you know how sometimes I am rushing to get things ready and I forget about the pictures… ya well I will get back to you :-)