Tzatziki Sauce and Baked Falafel

Baked falafel, tzatziki sauce, green hummus and veggies

Who doesn’t love falafel with all the fixin’s (for me this includes hummus or tahini sauce, fresh cucumbers, tomatoes, red onion, and most importantly tzatziki sauce!)?  But – I realize this confession is probably outing me as a serious buzz kill – I’m not in love with fried food.  On a VERY rare occasion, I’m cool with it.  However, it usually kinda grosses me out.  But falafel is way too good to eat only on rare occasion, so when I picked up Appetite ForReduction by vegan genius Isa Chandra Moskowitz and discovered there was a baked falafel recipe, I was one happy girl.  These falafels are full of flavor and jam-packed with chickpea goodness.  And at only 45 calories a falafel, you can really chow down (I recommend making a double batch).  You can find the falafel recipe here.

On to the tzatziki sauce…  For me, a meal with falafel just isn’t complete without the tzatziki.  The creamy, tangy base along with the flavor of dill and jam-packed with cool, shredded cucumber?  Sign me up!  I also love use tzatziki sauce as dressing atop a mixed green salad with all the usual Mediterranean suspects – cucumber, tomato, red onion, kalamata olives, maybe some green bell pepper, and chickpeas or cubed tofu.

This recipe goes crazy fast if you have a food processor with a shredding attachment, but even if you don’t it shouldn’t take longer than 10 minutes to prepare.  Enjoy!

Tzatziki Sauce

2 cups plain soy yogurt

1 large cucumber peeled, seeded, and shredded

3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice (1 – 1 1/2 lemons, plus more to taste)

2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley (not packed)

1 medium garlic clove grated on a microplane grater or finely minced

1 teaspoon white vinegar

1 teaspoon salt

freshly ground pepper to taste

1/4 teaspoon Hungarian paprika

pinch cayenne pepper

2 1/2 to 3 teaspoons dried dill (or 1 1/2 to 2 tablespoons fresh dill)

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and stir to combine.  Taste for seasonings and adjust if necessary.