Waffle Falafel

A few weeks ago Pat and I saw a documentary called "Sandwiches that you will like" and one of those sandwiches was falafel. It looked SO yummy! We sought out some suggestions for a place to get this treat locally. It was unanimous that we try "Falafel King", so we did. Let's just say that we were less than thrilled about the falafel. The falafel in the documentary was a giant pita that they put lettuce, tomato, hummus, 2 giant smashed falafel, cucumber salad and Tzatziki sauce on before they rolled it up, wrapping the end with paper to avoid all those delicious ingredients from escaping out the bottom. That was not what the falafel king provided us. We got a little pita slashed open stuffed with little falafel balls, some kind of marinated cucumber, onion, tomato, cabbage slaw with a little cup of some weird sauce, a cross between hummus and Tzatziki sauce on the side. Not only did it taste less than stellar, the after effects were enough to swear off falafel forever, seriously. I could not settle for just the end of falafel for us so I kept searching the internet figuring we could make it better ourselves and found Waffle Falafel. This appealed to me because I was less than excited that falafel balls are deep fried, so falafel cooked crispy on your waffle maker was worth a try. I also found a recipe for a falafel Tzatziki sauce that sounded yummy. So last night I made this creation and man was it good! The falafel was crisp and tasty and the sauce was a perfect accompaniment to it all. Not to mention a thick slathering of hummus that was like the cherry on top. Definitely a keeper.

Here is the recipes I used if you are interested.
Falafel:

* 1 15 oz. can chickpeas, drained
* 1 medium onion, finely chopped
* 1 tablespoon minced garlic
* 1/4-1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
* 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, finely chopped (1 tbls dried)
* 1 teaspoon coriander
* 3/4 teaspoon cumin
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 2 tablespoons flour

Add onion, chopped garlic and pepper flakes to food processor first. Process a bit until the size of eraser heads or a bit smaller. Add beans, herbs and pulse, stir, pulse until pieces are about the size of large pin-heads. No further. Turn the results into a bowl, add cumin, salt, and flour. Stir to combine. Heat waffle maker on medium and form the mixture in to golf ball size and cook one at a time on the waffle maker until crisp. Keep in 200 degree oven until all are done.

Falafel Sauce:
Whisk together 1/2 cup yogurt (I used low-fat), 1/2 cup tahini, 2 tbsp lemon juice, 1 minced garlic clove, 1/2 tsp cumin powder and salt to taste. Add a few tablespoons of water if the sauce looks too thick.