These falafels are incredibly flavoursome and fresh, and the best part is – you can use any green vegetables you have (fresh or frozen). Spinach, silverbeet, kale, broccoli, broccolini, peas, Brussel sprouts, cabbage, and green beans all work really well. The recipe is flexible so if you don’t have everything it doesn’t matter. There are alternative spices you can use as well as legumes and herbs.

I suggest making two batches so that you can stock up your freezer, you’ll thank yourself later on!

This makes a batch of 18 falafels.

You need:

  • 1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
  • 3-4 cups green vegetables (kale, spinach, peas, broccoli, Brussel sprouts, beans, etc.)
  • 1/2 an onion (red or brown) – optional
  • 1-2 cloves garlic – optional
  • 2 Tbsp. chia seeds
  • ~ 1/2 cup fresh herbs of choice (eg. tarragon, coriander, parsley, mint)
  • Oil (Coconut or canola oil) – For brushing
  • Olive oil (A splash for the falafels)
  • 1.5 tsp. spice (I love 1 tsp. cumin and 1/2 tsp turmeric, but you could add ginger, paprika, coriander too)
  • Salt & pepper to season

To make:

Preheat your oven to 200 degrees Celsius (fan-forced) and line a tray with baking paper.

Add all ingredients except the oil to a food processor and blitz until you get a textured crumbly mixture. Then add a little splash of olive oil and blitz a little more to create a textured paste. Then roll your mixture into balls (using ~ 2 Tbsps. per ball), place on your tray and flatten just slightly. Brush each falafel with oil and bake for 15-20mins (until the tops begin to turn a little golden). At this point, take your tray out of the oven, flip all falafels (you’ll see that the bottoms are lovely and crispy) and bake for another 15mins.

These are lovely served so many ways, here are few suggestions:

  • Serve with tzatziki and/or a tahini yoghurt dressing and/or hummus, green salad, pickles and warm pita bread
  • Make a falafel wrap – fill a wrap with hummus, falafels, and salad ingredients eg. tomato, lettuce, cucumber
  • Add to a green salad and top with hummus
  • Enjoy as a snack, dipped into tzatziki or hummus
  • Smash, top with hummus or Greek yoghurt and sprinkle with dukkah and lemon juice and serve with flatbread/rice/quinoa and green salad

A few other suggestions:

You could also easily make these with other legumes such as butter or cannellini beans. Also, if you don’t have a lot of green vegetables try using a combination of other vegetables such as carrot and pumpkin.

Gestational Diabetes –

Falafels are a great choice, to be enjoyed as part of a meal, for us during pregnancy and for those with GDM. What matters is how they are made, how many you have and also what you serve them with. This recipe is especially great for GDM as each falafel is a mix of greens and chickpeas (not only chickpeas) which means you can easily enjoy a few with taziki, flat bread and salad. If following this ‘formula’ using 1 x 400g can of chickpeas and green veggies only (no starchy veg) and if making 18 falafels below are some meal suggestions:

-5-6 falafels with a leafy vibrant salad and some taziki or hummus (2 Tablespoons) OR

-3-4 falafels, with salad, 2 Tablespoons tazkiki or hummus and 1/2 a large wholemeal lebanaese wrap bread

Also, if wanting some personalised guidance speak with your Dietitian or you can contact me via email or social media.

Lara x

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