Falafels are a traditional Middle Eastern, or Mediterranean, food made from chickpeas or fava beans, or both. Typically, the ground beans are combined with spices, shaped into balls or patties, and deep fried. They may by served wrapped in pita bread, with tzatziki sauce and vegetables, or alone with sauce for dipping. Falafels make a great protein-rich staple for the plant-based diet.
For my falafels, I chose to add some non-traditional flavor by combining ground chickpeas with green olives and my mushroom sausage. I skipped the deep frying and cooked mine in the air fryer.
For dipping, I used a little mustard mixed with maple syrup.
Note that the chickpeas are not cooked first– this is important. You want to use dry chickpeas that have been soaked and rinsed, but not cooked.
If you don’t care for olives, simply leave them out.