Falafel Salad with Tahini Dressing

Apologies for not including the carrot in the picture, it was hiding in my grater and I completely forgot about it!

Makes 5 lunches

Falafel

200g dried chickpeas (makes about 400g when rehydrated)

1 onion

1 clove of garlic

1 handful of fresh flat leaf parsley (leaves of)

1 handful of fresh coriander (leaves of)

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp coriander

A pinch of cayenne pepper

A pinch of all spice

10 cardamom pods

1 egg

1 1/2 tbsp olive oil

Salad

1 large carrot

2 red peppers

1/2 cucumber

5 medium sized tomatoes

1/2 red cabbage

70g rocket

15-20 kalamata olives

Dressing

1 lemon

2 1/2 tbsp live full fat yohurt

2 tbsp tahini

To serve

1 tbsp sesame seeds

1. Soak the chickpeas overnight.
2. In the morning, wash through twice, put on the boil and simmer for 45 minutes until soft
3. Put a small frying pan on a medium heat and add 1/2 a tbsp of the oil
4. Dice the onion and saute on a medium heat for 5 minutes
5. Crush the garlic clove into the same pan and saute for a further minute
6. Use a pestle and mortar to grind the cardamom pods and remove the outer shells.
7. Drain the chickpeas and add with the cooked onion, garlic, cardamom and all the other ingredients for the falafel apart from the oil into a food processor.  Blitz until everything is mixed but still slightly chunky.
8. Shape into small balls (about 4cm in diameter) and flatten slightly to make a patty.
9. Put a clean frying pan on a medium heat, add a little more oil and fry the falafel.  The ones in the centre need only 3 minutes per side but as you move the ones that are done to the edge, the others will need a little longer.  Add a little oil at a time so it isn’t soaked up all at once.
10. Once done leave the falafel to cool.
11. Slice the red cabbage into wedges and remove the stalk.  Using a mandolin on the thinnest setting, shred the cabbage.
12. Cut the cucumber into 3 and slice each piece lengthways using the mandolin on the thickest setting.  Cut each tomato into quarters and remove the stalk.  Slide each quarter into 3 slivers.
13. Peel, top, tail and grate the carrot.
14. Remove the stalk and seeds from the peppers and dice small (about 5mm)
15. Squeeze the juice from the lemon into a bowl, add the yoghurt and tahini and stir vigorously.
16. Arrange the salad (not forgetting the rocket and olives) with the falafel on top, drizzle over the dressing and sprinkle over the sesame seeds.