Falafel Sandwiches

 A falafel is probably a relatively new idea to many people, but is a staple in Middle Eastern and Mediterranean cuisine. It is a ball made of Chickpeas and spices that is deep fried. It is used as a garnish for plates and as the base for a sandwich, which is what I am going to explore today.

      

Falafel Sandwich, Tabouleh and Greek Potatoes

   There are a number of great recipes for falafels, and they are not hard to make,  but for simplicity today we used packaged falafels that we bought at the grocery store, they are good, but not nearly as good as homemade.  Traditional Falafel Sandwich is made on a Lebanese Pita Bread, but we like ours on a Greek pita or a Naan Bread which we wrote about making a while ago. If anyone wants a recipe for falafel we can write another post with it.

The big secret to a Falafel Sandwich is the Tahini Sauce which is a Sesame Sauce. The paste is much like a natural Peanut butter in that the oil floats on top and needs to be mixed in to use it.

Tahini Sauce

1/2 cup Tahini(Sesame Paste)
3 cloves garlic
1/2 tsp salt
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
1/4 cup Lemon Juice
1 tsp finely chopped parsley(optional)

Directions

  Mince the garlic and mash it with the salt. A mortar and pestle works great but the back of a spoon against the bottom of a bowl works as well.
Add Tahini and Olive Oil and mix well with the garlic.
Add lemon Juice( one good sized lemon should give enough juice)
Don't panic here as the sauce seems to harden, the sauce will turn to a fairly dry consistency.
Add water to the mixture a little bit at a time, you want to thin it enough that it will pour off a spoon.
Add parsley and mix well.
                              
Garnish

  Diced Tomato, Onion, Sweet Pepper and Cucumber. Some Hot Peppers and coarsely chopped parsley.


  Now to put together your sandwich.
  Warm your Pita or Naan and place on a plate. Put 4 or 5 falafels in a line in the middle of the bread and mash slightly with your thumb. Alongside the falafels place rows of the vegetable garnish. Sprinkle chopped parsley over the whole thing and pour some Tahini Sauce over everything.  Fold up your sandwich and enjoy.
  You can enjoy the sandwich by itself, it is a very filling meal or you can make a Taboulleh Salad or Greek potatoes to go with it. This is a very tasty meal and the first time we had tried it was at a dinner invitation from a gentleman from Lebanon. He told us at the time that it is traditional to have a glass of cola with the sandwich and for some reason it always tastes better that way.
  If you think this is too much work to find out if you like it, try one of the Lebanese restaurants that are starting to spring up, you can get a sandwich or a plate and give it a try before you decide to buy all the ingredients. We love this meal and hope you will too.