This recipe is from the CAH Weeknights II book and is posted at the request of Labs...
Recipe:
Falafel meatball wrap with tzatziki
Meatballs:
2/3 cup canned chickpeas, rinsed
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsely
1 egg
2 T olive oil, divided
1 T dried oregano
2 t garlic, minced
1 t kosher salt
1 t ground black pepper
1 # ground chuck
1/2 cup onion, minced
1/4 cup fresh breadcrumbs
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Puree chickpeas, parsley, egg, 1 T oil, garlic, and seasonings in food processor. Combine with ground chuck, onion, and bread crumbs. Divide mixture into 12 portions and shape into golf ball sized meatballs. Skewer meatballs and brown in a nonstick oven proof skillet with 1 T olive oil over medium-high heat. (If the meat is too moist to stay on the skewers, brown the meatballs first, then thread). Finish in the oven for 10 minutes.
Tzatziki:
1 cup yogurt (Greek preferred)
1/2 cup cucumber, seeded, chopped
1/2 c feta, crumbled
1 T fresh lemon juice
1 T olive oil
2 t lemon zest, minced
1/2 t honey
salt & Pepper to taste.
Pulse all ingredients for tzatziki in food processor until cucumber is coarsely chopped; set aside.
Wraps:
4 Boston or Bibb lettuce leaves
1 cup tomatoes, diced
Prepare lettuce and tomatoes for the wraps. To assemble, place three meatballs in lettuce leaf, drizzle with tzatziki, and garnish with tomatoes.
On the side... Cheese flatbread
2 pitas, unsplit
1 cup farmer cheese, shredded, divided
1/2 t dried oregano leaves
salt & pepper to taste.
Preheat broiler to high. Line a baking sheet with foil. To assemble, arrange pitas on prepared baking sheet and divide cheese and oregano between them; season with salt & pepepr. Broil until cheese is melted and browned, about 5 minutes. Cut into wedges before serving.
Serves 4
When I made this for the first time, we had the Athenian salad with it. Also in CAH Weeknights II book. It's a regular Greek salad and good, except I would replace the green onions with red onions next time I make it.
We liked the flavors of this dinner a lot; the calorie count provided in the book is less than the calorie counter in the on line tracker we use (MyFoodDiary.com) by quite a bit if you're concerned about calories. Cooking the meatballs while they were threaded on the skewers was kind of a pain. Also, the wraps really didn't work out, it just doesn't hold together and requires a knife and fork for polite company. The tzatziki makes about twice as much as you need for this dinner, so unless you have other uses for it planned, I'd recommend making a half recipe of it. The cheese flatbread is so simple and so good! Maybe because our bread servings are few these days...
I also thought it was more than a 30 minute dinner to put all this together. We liked it a lot and will make it again, but if I can mix up the meatballs or tzatziki ahead of time, I would.
Recipe:
Falafel meatball wrap with tzatziki
Meatballs:
2/3 cup canned chickpeas, rinsed
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsely
1 egg
2 T olive oil, divided
1 T dried oregano
2 t garlic, minced
1 t kosher salt
1 t ground black pepper
1 # ground chuck
1/2 cup onion, minced
1/4 cup fresh breadcrumbs
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Puree chickpeas, parsley, egg, 1 T oil, garlic, and seasonings in food processor. Combine with ground chuck, onion, and bread crumbs. Divide mixture into 12 portions and shape into golf ball sized meatballs. Skewer meatballs and brown in a nonstick oven proof skillet with 1 T olive oil over medium-high heat. (If the meat is too moist to stay on the skewers, brown the meatballs first, then thread). Finish in the oven for 10 minutes.
Tzatziki:
1 cup yogurt (Greek preferred)
1/2 cup cucumber, seeded, chopped
1/2 c feta, crumbled
1 T fresh lemon juice
1 T olive oil
2 t lemon zest, minced
1/2 t honey
salt & Pepper to taste.
Pulse all ingredients for tzatziki in food processor until cucumber is coarsely chopped; set aside.
Wraps:
4 Boston or Bibb lettuce leaves
1 cup tomatoes, diced
Prepare lettuce and tomatoes for the wraps. To assemble, place three meatballs in lettuce leaf, drizzle with tzatziki, and garnish with tomatoes.
On the side... Cheese flatbread
2 pitas, unsplit
1 cup farmer cheese, shredded, divided
1/2 t dried oregano leaves
salt & pepper to taste.
Preheat broiler to high. Line a baking sheet with foil. To assemble, arrange pitas on prepared baking sheet and divide cheese and oregano between them; season with salt & pepepr. Broil until cheese is melted and browned, about 5 minutes. Cut into wedges before serving.
Serves 4
When I made this for the first time, we had the Athenian salad with it. Also in CAH Weeknights II book. It's a regular Greek salad and good, except I would replace the green onions with red onions next time I make it.
We liked the flavors of this dinner a lot; the calorie count provided in the book is less than the calorie counter in the on line tracker we use (MyFoodDiary.com) by quite a bit if you're concerned about calories. Cooking the meatballs while they were threaded on the skewers was kind of a pain. Also, the wraps really didn't work out, it just doesn't hold together and requires a knife and fork for polite company. The tzatziki makes about twice as much as you need for this dinner, so unless you have other uses for it planned, I'd recommend making a half recipe of it. The cheese flatbread is so simple and so good! Maybe because our bread servings are few these days...
I also thought it was more than a 30 minute dinner to put all this together. We liked it a lot and will make it again, but if I can mix up the meatballs or tzatziki ahead of time, I would.
