Falafel Zucchini Pancakes

Chickpea flour is one of my new favorite ingredients to use in the kitchen.  It's great for starting roux in stews and pot pies, in homemade seitan, and of course in lots of different Mediterranean dishes.  I love falafel and Maoz is the only "fast food" that I'll eat these days.  It's still a special treat at that though because traditional falafel balls are deep fried, of course.  

I found this recipe for Falafel Patties on the package of Bob's Red Mill Garbanzo Bean Flour and decided to give them a half recipe test run with a few tweaks and they were a hit!  The biggest difference between these falafel patties was definitely the texture.  Since they are made from a flour they had more of a pancake type consistency but the flavor was dead on.  I just wanted to add a little more texture to them and zucchini was a super easy and nutritious way to do so.  The results were delicious, easy, and a fun new addition to our recipe box.  These would be great as a breakfast side or go full Mediterranean and serve them at dinner with a vegan tzatziki. 

Ingredients

Makes 6 Pancakes

• 1 cup Chickpea (Garbanzo Bean) Flour
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1 1/2 tsp parsley
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 1/4 tsp coriander
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp onion powder
• 2 tsp lemon juice
• 1/2 cup hot water
• 2 T olive oil, for frying
• 1 medium zucchini

1. Wash the zucchini and trim to the top and bottom off.  Grate the zucchini on a medium-large size on your grater.  
2. Use your hands to compress the zucchini into a ball shape and place in the center of a paper towel.  Twist the towel so it is tight around the zucchini and gently squeeze to expel some of the water from the zucchini.
3. Mix all the dry ingredients thoroughly in a bowl.
4. Add in the water and lemon juice and stir until all ingredients are completely mixed through.  Set aside and allow to rest for at least 10 minutes.
5. Meanwhile, spray a nonstick skillet with cooking spray and heat over medium high heat.  Add the zucchini and cook until tender.  About 5-7 minutes.  Add the zucchini to the batter and mix thoroughly again.
6. Heat the olive oil in the nonstick skillet over medium high heat until hot.  Spoon the batter into the hot oil (about 1 1/2 T to 2 T per pancake).  The batter will be thick so use a spatula to help spread the batter out to make each pancake thin and about 3-4 in in diameter.  
7. Cook on each side for about 4 minutes or until golden brown.  (If you have a smaller skillet do two batches of three pancakes using 1 T of oil per batch.)

breakfast polenta two way

As a vegetarian who doesn't like to eat eggs, Breakfast is the one meal of the day where I really feel limited with what my choices are to eat, especially when going out to a restaurant.  I get pancake fatigue very easily!  

Polenta is a great breakfast food to add in to your morning rotation to get a little variety.  It's like grits and a corn cake had a baby, plus it's cheap and easy to cook!  There's even a variety of polenta loaf at my local health foods store made with quinoa!  There are usually flavored polenta loaves too with varieties like sun dried tomato and herb or garlic.

• Simply slice the polenta into 1cm slices.  (4 per serving is good)
• Add enough Olive or coconut oil in a nonstick skillet to coat the bottom on the pan.
• Cook polenta slices for about 5-7 minutes per side over medium high heat and that's it!  The outside should get a little golden and browned while the inside stays a little softer. 
• Optional: Top with vegan cheese and seasoning of your choice.  I usually like to add fresh ground black pepper, red pepper flakes, or garlic flakes.

Here I've shown two different servings.  On the left I've gone for a more more "traditional" breakfast set up pairing the polenta with zucchini cakes and veggie bacon.  Or try a super light breakfast of greens by pairing it with some sautéed asparagus, zucchini, and mushrooms.