Green falafels served with gut-friendly haydari made from baked red peppers and Kefir cream cheese is a really good and healthy option for a meat-free meal.
Homemade falafels
I’ve been hesitant to make my own falafels for a looong time. Despite good intentions and buying the ingredients many times, I’ve always just been to overwhelmed with soaking the chickpeas, is my blender powerful enough etc. That’s when I thought why said you need to make them with chickpeas?! Why not try beans instead? They have the same consistency and are super healthy too.
Okay, maybe the thought spurred because I couldn’t get chickpeas during Corona-lock down. Haha Neither the less, they’re super easy to make and the green colour just adds happiness to your plate.
Homemade Haydari – gut-friendly
Haydari is normally a spread made from feta cheese, red peppers and spices and origins from Turkey. I had Kefir Cream Cheese so I used this to make my haydari. It turned out just as great – and with the extra benefits of kefir what’s not to like.
Gut-friendly Kefir
Kefir is a healthy, fermented drink with a consistency comparable to drinkable yoghurt. This product is traditionally made from dairy milk, but plenty of non-dairy options are available. Studies suggest that it boosts your immune system, aids in digestive problems and improves bone health which is great for me as I don’t drink milk and do a lot of exercises so I need to keep my bones strong and healthy.
Kefir’s flavour is naturally sweet, slightly bubbly, and mild but a bit tangy as well. The drink is made either with kefir grains or a powdered kefir starter. The grains aren’t an actual grain like wheat but are made of bacteria and yeast — the good kind.
Green falafels and gut-friendly Haydari
Green falafels served with gut-friendly haydari made from baked red peppers and Kefir cream cheese is a really good and healthy option for a meat-free meal.
Green falafels made with beans
- 500 g broad beans (from frozt)
- 1 brown onion
- 2 garlic cloves
- 50 g parsley
- 50 g fresh spinach
- 2 tsp cumin
- 1½ tsp salt
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- sesame seeds for coating
Haydari
- 2 red peppers
- 1 pot (150g) Kefir Cream Cheese with Red pepper and Cumin (I used Biotiful)
- 1 handful parsley
- 2 tsp Sambal Oelek
- 1 clove garlic
Other
- 1 pack Genious Beetroot Wraps
- ¼ red cabbage (shredded or finely chopped)
- ¼ sweetheart cabbage (shredded or finely chopped)
- 2 carrots (shredded or peeled to ribbons)
- Sugarsnaps
Haydari
Turn on the oven at 200 C
Rinse and cut the peppers in halves. Brush with a little olive oil and salt + peppar
Bake in the oven for 30 minutes until they develop big, black spots on the skin. Let them cool down and peel off the skin.
Blend the peppers with the remaining ingredients.
Pour boiling hot water over the broad beans so that they defrost.
Peel and chop the onion and garlic and blend with the defrosted beans and the rest of the ingredients into a thick batter.
Using a spoon and the palm of your hand, shape the batter into round balls and put them on a lined baking tray. Sprinkle with sesame seeds.
Bake in the oven for 25-35 minutes until just crispy.
Serve with the veggies and beet wraps.
If you like this, you might be interested in my gluten-free crispbread with Psyllium Husk which also provides excellent digestion aid and an extra boost of fibres.