falafel, dominican style

Ingredients
1 can of chickpeas
1 medium-ish onion
2 spoonfuls-ish flour
1 egg (if you want to make this vegan you can drop the egg and use more flour, but the egg makes it less crumbly)
Spices of some sort... I use whole cumin seeds, because I just happen to have a big bag of them and I like the texture. Don't go out and buy cumin seeds, though. You could use regular cumin. Or garlic powder maybe, whatever.
S&P
Oil (I like to use like half sunflower oil and half olive oil, but whatever)

So, you're actually supposed to use parsley and stuff for falafel? But this recipe works with what's readily available in the DR, and it's delicious and super easy.

Make sure the onion isn't too big! Or don't use a whole onion if you have a big one. It will make your falafel TOO ONIONY D:

Anyway, first step is mash chickpeas! I'm posting a picture of my mortal & pestle again because I can! But you can use a fork or blender.

Mash mash mash!  Then, dice the onion (or I guess throw it in with the chickpeas if you're one of those fancy "food processor" types) and mix them together in a bowl. Crack in the egg, shake in the spices, and stir it all together. Add in some flour a spoonful at a time and keep stirring. You want it to be solid enough to hold together in balls. Heat up some oil for a few minutes, then toss in some golf ball-sized patties.

 

Fry that shit until it's golden brown (1-2 minutes on each side). You will only be hurting yourself if you get impatient and take them out sooner! I know from experience.

Okay like 1/4th of these end up getting eaten almost immediately after getting taken out of the oil and salted and peppered. SOOO GOOD when they're fresh!  Another option? On a wrap with some lettuce and tomato and whatnot. Also it's great with tahini sauce (1 spoonful tahini + the juice of one lime + a little water), but I didn't have any limes so I just used ranch dressing here. Also good!

 

Fun fact: I worked at Subway when they first unveiled their "low carb wraps." I was always getting yelled at by the manager for not being a very good wrapper, a trait that continues to this very day. Other fun fact: this is a spinach wrap, not just moldy.

This would probably serve four people. I usually get three meals out of it, but that's because I'm a total fatkid with the fresh falafels and eat like half of them then. They are good cold in wraps or sandwiches, too. 

garlic hummus

Ingredients:
1 can chickpeas
1 lime/lemon, or like a spoonful of lime/lemon juice
2 spoonfuls tahini
5 minced cloves of garlic (less if you don't like garlic that much, more if you want to ward off vampires)

Oh man, do I love hummus. This is a super easy recipe that you can make even if you are in the Peace Corps. The tahini is kind of a splurge (it was like $6 for that jar) but it is worth it, because it lasts a really long time and makes hummus sooo much better than just plain mashed chickpeas.

Anyway, here's what you're going to do. First, mash the chickpeas! I use a pilon (mortar & pestle) which is pretty fun. You can use a blender if you have one, or a fork.

Yeahhhh. Then, add the garlic and mash it a little bit. (Tip: crush a garlic clove with the flat edge of the knife before you peel it. It'll make the skin easier to peel off and will start crushing the garlic a little bit. Other tip: if you are in America and cook with garlic often, just buy a jar of pre-minced garlic. So much easier than dealing with chopping and garlic-scented hands all the time.)

 

Then, add the citrus juice and the tahini! Stir it around real good and eat it!

 

Yum! I like hummus on tortilla chips, carrot sticks, bread, crackers... basically anything is better with hummus on it.