tallwookie

not sure what the cutoff point is between cheap/healthy food and healthy food so I'm just gonna go for it. made this for lunch today and it was tasty so I thought I'd share.

Tzatziki dressing

• 1 cup greek style yogurt (sour cream would probably work as well)
• 1/2 cucumber, peeled and then shredded
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tbsp dried dill weed
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp sour (I used vinegar, but I think lemon juice is traditional)
• oat milk to thin it down into a dressing consistency
• salt to taste

mix it all together & add however much oat milk you'd like to get it thinned down to be a salad dressing

Falafel

• 1 cup dried chickpeas, soaked for 12 hours, drained
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 tbsp garlic powder
• 2 tbsp flour
• 1 tsp cumin powder
• 1 tbsp baharat spice blend
• 2 tbsp oil
• a generous pinch of salt

preheat oven to 390 F. grind it all up in a food processor until the chickpeas and onion are chopped very fine, like large grains of sand. form into balls/patties/lumps (I used my hands, so they're sort of oval shaped), bake for 17 minutes.

plate with whatever your favorite greens are (I used romaine hearts), chopped tomatoes (for color), a few falafel, drizzle with the tzatziki sauce & sprinkle a pinch of dill over top.

Just another no-rush recipe, though this can be done in as little as 3 hours.

• 3 cups flour (bread flour preferred, but just unbleached white will do in a pinch)

• 2 tsp active dry yeast

• 2 tsp salt

• 1 tbsp brown sugar

• 1 1/2 cups warm water

mix all dry ingredients together & then add water bit by bit until the dough comes together. toss it in an oiled bowl and cover (I use plastic wrap) for 2 hours.

bake immediately, at 400 F for 35 minutes and then rest for 15 minutes

OR

put it in the fridge for up to 48 hours - this will age the dough and the slow fermentation develops all sorts of nice flavors. let it rest on the counter for 2 hours prior to baking.

occasionally I'll use my cast iron dutch oven to bake - pre-heat the dutch oven for 30 minutes at 450 F, put the dough on parchment paper and then put that in the dutch oven, cover with lid & bake for 30 minutes. remove lid & keep baking for 10 minutes.

allow to rest for 15 - 20 minutes before chopping it up.

just something I like to make occasionally, usually on the weekend when I'm not in a hurry

• 2 cups dried chickpeas, soaked for a minimum of 6 hours

• 1/2 cup olive oil (doesnt have to be expensive though it should be noted that higher quality olive oil will taste better - I use a Spanish oil blend when I make hummus)

• 1/3 cup tahini (I prefer a toasted/roasted tahini, raw tahini has a meh sort of flavor)

• 2 tbsp garlic powder

• 1 tbsp onion powder

• 1 tbsp shawarma powder

• salt to taste (use a good quality salt, not iodized table salt - I prefer Maldon sea salt flakes)

• 1 tbsp roasted sesame oil

add sesame oil to the pressure cooker, add chickpeas, and just enough water to cover. pressure cook the chickpeas for 18 minutes at pressure, remove from heat & wait 10 minutes, then manually release any pressure & drain.

• I use a Hawkins 3L stovetop pressure cooker, if you're using an instapot then maybe look up instructions for it

blend (or use a food processor) chickpeas, tahini, spices. slowly drizzle oil in over 1 to 2 minutes. it really depends on how oily you like your hummus.

keeps for a few days in the fridge, generally doesnt last that long for me, i usually eat it up quick. tasty w/ DIY naan.