Carrot Top Falafel

October 15, 2021

It’s a shame to throw away a bunch of beautiful carrot tops, because you think you don’t have a use for them. This simple falafel recipe incorporates blanched carrot tops, so you can pack a whole bunch of the beautiful dark greens into a meal. Pair the falafel with rice and hummus for a simple dinner. Better yet, make your own roasted carrot hummus to pair: Roast carrots and a garlic clove and blend with cumin, olive oil, lemon juice, tahini, and water to thin it out. Serve with some leafy greens and crunchy vegetables. 

Serves 3-4

Ingredients

1 cup raw chickpeas, soaked overnight in cold water 

1 cup parsley, stems and leaves roughly chopped

1 tsp. ground cumin

1 tsp. ground coriander

½ tsp. Black pepper

1 bunch carrot tops (about 3 cups), washed and large stems discarded

3 garlic cloves

1 tsp. Salt

2 cups vegetable oil, for frying

Directions

1. Blanch the carrot tops. Heat a large pot of salted water to boil.
2. Set aside an ice bath. 
3. When the water boils, plunge the carrot tops into the boiling water for 30 seconds, and immediately cool in the ice bath. 
4. Once cool, squeeze out all of the water and set in a colander to further dry. 
5. Once the blanched carrot tops are dry, roughly chop them. 
6. Drain the soaked chickpeas. 
7. In a high-powered blender or food processor, blend the chickpeas, carrot tops, parsley, spices, garlic, and salt. 
8. Turn the mixture out into a large bowl, and begin rolling balls, no bigger than 1.5 inches in diameter. 
9. Heat oil in a tall sided pot to deep fry. 
10. When oil is hot, fry the falafel in batches, turning them in the oil so all sides get heated evenly. 
11. Sprinkle with salt immediately after removing from the oil and drain on paper towels. 

This recipe was created by Local Roots Recipe Contributor Sachi Nagase / @bothand.nyc

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