Celebrating Mother's Day with Falafel Burgers

On Sunday evening, a gaggle of friends came over to celebrate Jay's first Mother's Day -- she's due in the fall, but we like to get things started early when it comes to babies. We ate straight from the Moosewood Restaurant New Classics cookbook again. I hope to make every recipe in this book over time. This week: Falafel Burgers with Lemon Tahini Dressing, and a very modified Three Peppers Cabbage Slaw.

Falafel Burgers

1 cup diced onion
2-3 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 cup diced red bell peppers
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp ground coriander
pinch of cayenne, or to taste
12 oz firm tofu, pressed and crumbled
1.5 cups cooked chick peas (15-oz can, drained)
3 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp dark sesame oil
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/2 tsp salt, or to taste
1/2 cup breadcrumbs

Preheat the oven to 350. Oil a baking sheet. Sauté onions and garlic in olive oil on medium heat for 5 minutes. Add peppers, turmeric, coriander and cayenne and sauté for 5 minutes more.


While the veggies cook, combine tofu, chick peas, lemon juice, soy sauce and sesame oil in food processor until well combined but not a paste.


Transfer tofu mixture to a large bowl. Stir in veggie mixture, parsley, tahini, bread crumbs and salt, until uniform.


Shape into 8 patties, using about 1/2 cup mixture per patty.


Bake for 30 minutes until golden, juicy and firm. Top with Yogurt Tahini Dressing.


Yogurt Tahini Dressing

1 cup plain yogurt
2 Tbsp tahini
1-2 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
1 Tbsp lemon juice
2 tsp chopped fresh dill
salt and pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients and let sit for 15 minutes before serving. Serve cold.


Three Peppers Cabbage Slaw

Salad:
4 cups finely shredded green cabbage
1/2 cup red bell pepper, cut into 1 inch matchsticks
1/2 cup green bell pepper, cut into 1 inch matchsticks
1/2 cup yellow bell pepper, cut into 1 inch matchsticks
1/2 cup finely sliced scallions
3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1 seeded and minced jalapeno pepper (optional - I skipped it)

Dressing:
2 teaspoons freshly grated lemon peel
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 garlic clove, minced or pressed
2 to 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons white balsamic or cider vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt

Place the salad ingredients in a serving bowl. In another bowl, whisk together all of the dressing ingredients. Pour the dressing on the vegetables and toss thoroughly. Add more vinegar, salt, or sugar to taste. Serve immediately or refrigerate for up to 3 days.


This dinner came out splendidly. The burgers are pretty easy to prepare and were a big hit. If you used soy yogurt in the dressing, it would have been a vegan meal as well, which is handy to have in your back pocket. The dressing and burgers taste great together, and all of it kept well for lunch leftovers the next day. I left out all the peppers for the slaw -- red and yellows are terribly expensive, and green just taste like crap. Instead I grated up some carrot for color, and the dressing still worked out just fine. The food was light but filling, and enjoyable to eat outside in the backyard.


The ulterior motive to inviting all these friends for dinner was to get help finally installing the posts and fencing for the garden. After much holding of ladders, banging on posts with the side of a pickaxe, twist-tying, and hilarity, the fence was finally installed! One step closer to getting those plants in the ground.

The next problem-solving issue is how to secure the fence to the ground between the posts so critters don't crawl underneath. After that is figured out, the plants should be safe and ready to move to their new home.