Here’s a pretty amazing recipe from my hero Mark Bittman.  Traditionally, falafel are deep fried, but baking is easier, cleaner, and probably better for you. Falafel is great; once upon a time I lived on it for two years. You can eat it in whole wheat pita with lettuce, tomato, and cucumbers, and drizzled with tahini. You can thin the tahini with a little more lemon juice and/or water, and pour it over falafel and greens to make a yummy salad. Of course, you can also eat falafel cold, one at a time, straight from the refrigerator, for breakfast.

• 1 3 /4 cups dry chickpeas
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 small onion, quartered
• 1 Tbsp. cumin
• 1 /2 – 1 tsp. cayenne
• 1 cup fresh parsley or cilantro, chopped
• 1 – 1 1 /2 tsp. salt
• 1 /2 tsp. black pepper
• 1 /2 tsp. baking soda
• 1 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
• 4 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 /2 cup tahini (sesame paste)

Place the chickpeas in a large bowl and cover with water by at least 3 inches.  Soak for 12-24 hours, checking the water level a few times and adding more as needed to keep the chick peas covered. Once the chickpeas are done soaking, preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Drain and rinse the chickpeas, and add them to a food processor along with the with garlic, onion, cumin, cayenne, parsley or cilantro, pepper, baking soda, lemon juice, and one teaspoon of salt. Pulse the mixture until minced, but not pureed. Add water bit by bit, by the tablespoon if necessary, but keep the mixture as dry as possible. This is a good time to stop, taste, and add more cayenne if you’d like.

Grease a large rimmed baking sheet with 2 Tbsp. olive oil. Using the palms of your hands, roll approx. 1 tablespoon of the chickpea mixture into a ball about 1 1 /4 inches in diameter. The recipe should make about 20 balls.

Place the balls on the baking sheet, one by one as you make them, and then flatten them into thick patties with the flat open palm of your hand. Brush the falafel tops with the remaining 2 Tbsp. olive oil, and then bake 10-15 minutes per side until golden-brown.

To serve, whisk the tahini with the remaining 1 /2 tsp. salt and 1 /2 cup water until very smooth, and drizzle over falafel.

This recipe makes approx. 8 servings.  Once the chickpeas have soaked, it takes about 45 minutes. Leftovers are great refrigerated or frozen. To reheat, wrap them in foil and bake 15-35 minutes at 350F until hot all the way through, time depending on whether they are cold or frozen.