 [ Symptoms ] is falafel good for me [ Disease ] falafel a middle eastern dish is high in protein and popular with vegetarians it is usually made from chick peas shaped into a ball and served in a pita pocket or on folded flat bread my family members are fans too and we love getting falafel pita sandwiches at the farmer is market in town we are such falafel fans that i want to be able to make them at home too they are actually easy to make ahead of time and can be used as a fun lunch entree for grown ups and kids alike falafel are usually deep fried but you can lighten them up by either cooking them in a nonstick frying pan with a controlled amount of canola or olive oil or you can lightly coat the outside of the falafel balls with canola or olive oil cooking spray and bake them until nicely browned here is a recipe for the baked version ingredients 13 cup dry bulgur wheat 15 ounce can garbanzo beans chickpeas drained and rinsed about 1 12 cups 12 cup chopped green onions 14 cup whole wheat flour 1 large egg higher omega 3 if available 14 cup loosely packed chopped parsley 1 12 teaspoons minced or chopped garlic 1 12 teaspoons ground cumin 34 teaspoon red pepper flakes optional 12 cup finely ground italian style or plain breadcrumbs canola or olive oil cooking spray preparation 1 place bulgur in a small bowl and pour in boiling water to cover it by 2 inches let soak for about 15 minutes 2 in the bowl of a food processor combine 34 cup of the cooked bulgur remove the bulgur from the bowl with a slotted spoon with garbanzo beans green onions whole wheat flour egg parsley garlic cumin and red pepper flakes if desired pulse scraping the sides of the bowl after about 5 seconds until the mixture is thick enough to form into balls 3 place breadcrumbs in a small bowl use a tablespoon measure to scoop a level tablespoon of falafel dough and drop it into the breadcrumbs roll it around in the breadcrumbs to lightly coat place the coated falafel on a sheet of waxed paper on the counter repeat with the remaining falafel dough cover the falafels loosely and let them stand for 1 hour you can skip this waiting period if you do not have the time 4 preheat oven to 450 degrees while still on the waxed paper coat the tops of the falafels generously with cooking spray lay the falafels cooking spray side down on a cookie sheet spray the tops of the falafels generously with more cooking spray 5 bake until golden brown about 22 minutes while they are baking you can whip up a batch of tahini dressing yield makes about 5 servings nutritional analysis per serving 182 calories 9 g protein 31 g carbohydrate 3 g fat  4 g saturated fat  4 g monounsaturated fat  4 g polyunsaturated fat 42