Feb 8th - Falafel Burgers with leftover Superbowl sides

The fridge is still full of food. I was tempted to have the Cauliflower and Roasted Garlic Macaroni and Cheese from last night but though I needed something a bit lighter tonight. I new D was going to have the pork and we still have nearly a dozen of those lovely, crusty Portuguese buns. D had some of the leftover roast pork and slaw without a bun with some of the mac and cheese from yesterday. Preheat the oven to 300F and put the portion of pork you want in a small oven proof dish, covered with foil. 20 minutes.

I decided while on the treadmill that I would have the falafel. I bought the mix on Commercial drive months ago and keep forgetting it's there. D was organising the pantry the other day and was bugging me about it. I've had different brands of this type of dried mix in the past and it works out great and keeps forever. Keep it sealed in a ziplock bag but keep the box so you don't forget the instructions. You don't have to feel guilty about using an instant mix because I know restaurants or rather falafel shops that use this type of mix too. I've made falafel from scratch in the past and it's alot alot of work. There's all the chopping, grinding and mixing and frying. This is a dehydrated mix of the classic falafel. All you need to do is add hot water and let stand.

The only annoying thing about this box is that the instructions are for the entire box! I go through the same thing everytime. I forget what the volume ratio is. I wanted to do 1 burger pattie and I ended up with two. So I will tell you what the mix should be for 1 burger pattie.

Falafel Burger
(1 burger)
1/4 c dried falafel mix
4 T (60ml) boiled water

Mix in a small bowl thoroughly. Let stand 10-15 minutes.

In a nonstick pan, heat a little bit of oil. Scoop out the mix and pat down with a spatula into a patty. Don't touch it. Don't shimmy it or peak under it for at least 2 minutes. Then you can try shaking the pan to see if it moves around. If it doesn't, you need to let it sit a little longer. Carefully shimmy a nonstick, silicon spatula underneath the patty. I only say silicon spatula because you shouldn't use a metal spatula on your nonstick pans. Flip over quickly. If it falls apart at all, just pat it back together. 3-4 minutes on the otherside too.

I served my pattie with some horseradish mayo and fresh Tomato Salsa from Superbowl Sunday