Falafel Wraps with Coconut Yogurt Sauce

Falafel is such a delicious treat but the fact that it's deep fried takes it off the healthy dish. We've developed a nutrient-dense BAKED Falafel recipe that is guilt and gluten free and packed with nutrition thanks to a variety of healthy seeds. Chia is the secret of this recipe. It holds all the ingredients together without the use of any flour, eggs or other ingredients. It's magic!

Serves 8-10

Ingredients:

For Falafel:

3/4 cup chia seeds
2-1/4 cups water
1/2 cup raw pistachios
1/2 cup raw almonds
1/2 cup ground raw flax seeds
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1/2 cup sesame seeds
2 carrots, roughly chopped
1/2 onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp parsley, finely chopped
2 tbsp nutritional yeast
juice of 1 lemon
1 tbsp cumin
salt and pepper to taste

For Plating:

2 cucumbers, peeled and chopped
3 heads of Boston Bibb or Butter lettuce, washed and dried
3 large heirloom tomatoes, finely chopped
1 large red onion, finely chopped
2 cups coconut yogurt
fresh dill
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

Make the Falafel:

Pour 2-1/4 cups water over 3/4 cup chia seeds in a bowl, stir well and refrigerate for 10-15 minutes until chia absorbs the water and expands
In a food processor, pulse the almonds and pistachios into very small bits (you want to ensure the pieces are about as small or smaller than the whole sunflower and sesame seeds so they don't fall out once you combine them into the Falafel mixture)
Empty the food processor and add in the carrots. Pulse until carrot pieces are very small
In a large bowl, combine the soaked chia seeds with the ground flax seeds, pulsed nuts, pulsed carrots, whole sunflower seeds and the rest of the ingredients
Give the mixture a taste to ensure it's seasoned to your liking
Let the mixture sit in the refrigerator for 1 hour to overnight to give the ingredients time to solidify for easy shaping of the Falafel balls
Once mixture is firm, make ping pong sized Falafel balls (we use a small cookie dough scoop) and bake on a parchment lined cookie sheet at 300 degrees for 1 hour.

TIP: You can form the Falafel balls ahead, freeze them and bake them later. Freeze the balls on a cookie sheet and then store them in zip-top bags in the freezer. To cook, bake straight from the freezer for about 1 hour, 10 minutes.

Make the Coconut Yogurt Dipping Sauce:

Ingredients:

2 cups coconut yogurt (suggest a coconut yogurt with a thick consistency)
a handful of fresh dill, finely chopped
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

Simply combine the ingredients and adjust seasoning as needed

Plating:

Serve about 3 Falafel per person in a lettuce cup with fresh chopped cucumber, red onion and tomatoes (lightly salted) and topped with a dollop of the Coconut Yogurt Dipping Sauce.