Spinach-Falafel Patties

I've been super into legumes lately. They're cheap, healthy and if cooked right, delicious. Last week I ate the same roasted chickpeas for lunch every day. Today I decided that I should probably experiment with some other lunch ideas.

That's when I had this inspiration. I've had (and loved) falafel balls many times in the past, but don't eat them anymore because they're ridiculously fattening. I've experimented with low-fat versions in the past, but today I decided to try a whole new take.

Simple math: spinach patties+falafel balls+healthy eating= low fat spinach-falafel patties.

Here's how it goes. I took out my handy-dandy food processor (I can't believe the thing used to intimidate me!). I peeled an onion, and dumped it in. I followed that by two cloves of garlic, and blended that until it was well mixed. I then opened, drained and rinsed a can of chickpeas, and added it to the onion mixture, blending until it all formed a paste.

Next, I took a 32 oz bag of (mostly defrosted) frozen spinach and dumped in about a third of it. That made the mixture too thick for the food processor, so I dumped in an egg. After blending that until it was incorporated, I added another third of the bag, followed by another two eggs and a small amount (probably about a tablespoon) of oil.

Once the mixture was fully processed, I dumped it into a bowl and added some whole wheat breadcrumbs until I had a mixture that was thick enough to form into patties. I then added the spices: salt, black pepper, cumin (for the falafel flavor), a dash of coriander and a dash of cayenne pepper.

I then cooked the mixture in two ways:

1) I fried some with a bit of Pam. This way came out nice, but it was labor intensive. (Note- the black color isn't burned, though it looks kinda like it is. It tasted delicious.)

2) I baked them. This method was super easy, so I think it's going to be the way I make them next time. I laid them all out on a tray and stuck them in the oven at 375.

About a half hour later, I flipped them over and stuck them back in the oven. Half hour after that, I took them out.

The result: delicious. The texture was very interesting, but I mean that in a good way. The taste was delicious. I put a little chummos on them, and felt like I was back in Israel in a little falafel joint.