Paleo Falafel (no beans!)

May 25, 2014 by Leanne Vogel November 2, 2018

Ground nuts, seeds and fresh herbs make the perfect texture and flavor in these bean-free falafel balls.

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons sesame seeds
• 1 cup walnuts
• 1 cup almonds
• ½ cup tightly packed fresh cilantro
• ½ cup tightly packed fresh parsley
• ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons dried mint leaves
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon nutritional yeast
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
• 1 clove garlic
• ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
• ½ teaspoon Himalayan rock salt
• ½ teaspoon ground pepper

Instructions

1. Add walnuts, almonds and sesame seeds to a large glass bowl. Fill with water, cover and refrigerate for 12 hours. Once complete, strain and rinse.
2. Add cilantro, parsley, olive oil, lemon juice, mint leaves, cumin, nutritional yeast, oregano, garlic, cayenne pepper, salt and ground pepper to the bowl of your food processor.
3. Pulse mixture until smooth.
4. Then add soaked nut and seed mixture. Pulse mixture until nuts are the size of sesame seeds.
5. Roll the dough; 2 tablespoons at a time, into balls. Press and rotate as you go to allow the mixture to stick. Repeat with remaining dough, creating 16 balls in total.
6. Place completed balls on food dehydrator racks. Dehydrate at 110F for 10 hours, rotating halfway through. If you do not have a dehydrator, recipe can be cooked at the lowest temperature your oven will go (180F) for 3 hours, rotating halfway through.

Notes

• Nut allergy – if you are allergic to nuts, you could make this recipe with 1 cup of sunflower seeds and 1 cup of pumpkin seeds.
• Sesame allergy – if you are allergic to sesame, you could replace the sesame seeds with an equal amount of hemp seeds. Do not soak the hemp seeds.
• Food Dehydrator – if you do not have a food dehydrator, I have included oven instructions in the recipe.

Nutrition Information Per Serving