Falafel Salad (Low FODMAP)

20 Minutes prep • 20 Minutes cook • Low FODMAP • Gluten-free • Lactose-free • Vegetarian • Serves 4 • Ok to make ahead: Steps 1-5

I love the taste of falafel and I’m always looking for ways to help you consume a wide variety of foods while keeping things low FODMAP. This recipe uses brown rice and lots of fresh herbs and vegetables in the mix to keep the serving size of garbanzo beans under the low FODMAP limit. Falafel is traditionally served in pita bread with some salad tucked inside, but you can skip the pita and serve your falafel on a salad, on top of rice, or just plain as an appetizer with the sauce as a dip. They are really good and also good for you!

Ingredients: Falafel

2 medium carrots, washed and grated

1 cup canned garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed (1/4 cup is low FODMAP serving)

1 large lemon, (zest and juice)

3/4 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley, washed and roughly chopped

2 tablespoons fresh mint leaves, chopped

1 bunch green onions (green part only), chopped

1 cup cooked brown rice

1 tablespoon garlic-infused olive oil (plus more for frying)

1 teaspoon paprika

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 1/2 teaspoons Smoke N Sanity Essence of Garlic Salt (use code IBSGC10 for 10% discount)

1 - 2 tablespoons gluten-free all-purpose flour

Season with 1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Ingredients: Salad

3 cups mixed greens of your choice

3 Persian cucumbers, washed and sliced

2-3 radishes or 1 watermelon radish, washed and sliced

1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, cut in half

Ingredients: Garlic Mayonnaise

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1/4 cup garlic-infused olive oil

1 tablespoon lemon or lime juice

A pinch of salt and few grinds of Black pepper

Directions

(1) Prepare: Cook the brown rice. Rinse and drain the garbanzo beans. Wash and chop, and slice the vegetables. Zest and juice the lemon.

(2) Prepare the garlic mayo: In a small bowl or jar, combine all ingredients and shake or whisk to combine. set aside. If it’s going to be awhile before you use it, put it in the refrigerator.

(3) Prepare the falafel: In a food processor grate the carrot. Add all the rest of the ingredients to the bowl of your food processor with the grated carrot. Pulse to blend and turn it into an even mixture. If the mixture is too dry then add another tablespoon of garlic-infused olive oil or water). Once it is well combined, stir through 1 tablespoon of the gluten-free flour. If the mixture is not quite dry enough to handle, stir through one more tablespoon of flour. Taste the mixture and add additional salt and/or pepper if needed.

(4) Form the falafel into patties: You can form the falafel into patties or balls. I like patties because they cook through better if you’re not deep frying them. Line a cookie sheet with parchment. Put a bit of olive oil or water on your hands and take a heaping tablespoon-sized scoop of falafel and form it into a pattie, then set it on the parchment. Continue the until you have formed all of the falafel mixture into patties—it should make about 16.

(5) Cook the falafel: Heat a large non-stick frypan over medium-high heat. Add about 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Once hot, use a spatula to lift the falafel patties from the parchment and put them into the hot oil. Cook on each side for 2 to 3 minutes until browned. Turn down the heat if they start to burn, and add more oil as needed. Once cooked, place on a paper towel to drain. Cook the falafel in two or three batches so you don’t overload the pan.

(6) Plate and serve: Make a bed of greens on each plate, and add the radishes, cherry tomatoes, and cucumbers. Top with 3 or 4 falafel pattites. Drizzle generously with the garlic mayonnaise. Make sure you divide the falafel into the recommended number of serves to keep the recipe low FODMAP (this is normally 3 to 4 pieces of falafel per person).

Eat and enjoy every bite because you can!

Recipe note: I use Diamond Crystal Kosher salt in all my recipes because it has a wonderful flat and crisp flake that tastes delicious. It is also the least salty salt available so you can use it more liberally as a seasoning than you can table salt or sea salt. If you use another type of salt, you may need to reduce the amount so it is not over-salted. 

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