Healthy Falafel

Here is a vegan falafel.

I have had a long lasting love affair with the falafel, and have only recently figured out that it does not have to come at the expense of a of being a high caloric indulgence. This recipe maintains the delicious savoriness that I associate with the more traditional recipe. less grease than the fried version, but not as dog biscuit-like as some baked versions I have had in the past. These are light and almost fluffy in the middle, but crispy on the outsides. One word of caution, however: these are a bit fragile, so treat them gently. You will be glad you did!

Modified from  Becca @ Amuse Your Bouche
Original recipe
http://www.amuse-your-bouche.com/quick-falafel/

• 2 small onions, rough dice
• 2 cloves garlic
• 2 15 oz cans chickpeas, drained
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1 tsp chilli powder
• 1/2 cup fresh chopped cilantro (optional, I made some with and some without as I have a non cilantro eater in my house)
• Salt and black pepper to taste
• Plain flour on a plate 
• Cooking spray

Technique

1. In food processor, whirl onions and garlic into a paste, then add chickpeas and dry spices. Whirl again until smooth. 
2. Add the chopped coriander if you are going to use it (or split out the mix you wish to keep cilantro free), and pulse with the food processor until combined. Add salt and pepper to taste. 
3. At this point, the mix is very moist and the process is a bit delicate. Heat a skillet or griddle to medium and coat the pan with cooking spray. Form medium sized balls and lightly dust with flour to reduce their stickiness. Place them on the griddle. Once on the griddle, gently spritz the top of the= balls themselves with the cooking spray, then use a spatula to flatten them into a thin patty shape. Cook for 4-6 minutes on a side and flip GENTLY. They are rather fragile creatures compared with the fried falafels you may be used to.  
4. Eat them! They are good on pita, on a salads, as an accompaniment to various side items, and they reheat well. I like to serve them along with hummus (although many would consider that redundant), tahini, or pretty much any dressing you can imagine. 

Hummus Among Us

Alton Brown's Hummus- my alterations
 modified from http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/hummus-for-real-recipe.html?oc=linkback

Ingredients
1 pound cooked chickpeas (from scratch or canned)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
5 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/4 cup water
1/3 cup tahini, stirred well
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra for serving


Directions
Place the chickpeas, garlic, and kosher salt in the bowl of a food processor. Process for 15 to 20 seconds. Stop, scrape down the sides of the bowl, and process for another 15 to 20 seconds. Add the lemon juice and water. Process for 20 seconds. Add the tahini. Process for 20 seconds, then scrape down the sides of the bowl. With the processor running, drizzle in the olive oil.


I think this had a bit too much lemon at the same time as was a bit too thin (neither a fatal flaw, however). Next time, I would reduce the lemon juice. To increase the garlic flavor, but maintain the oomph, some garlic powder could be added.

Comics that don't stink

I love comics that stink, almost as much as I love great comics. The ones in the middle...not so much.
The ever excellent Mister Kitty International
http://misterkitty.livejournal.com/
reviews blasts from the past in my favorite regular feature- Stupid Comics!
http://www.misterkitty.org/extras/stupidcovers/index.html

In honor of their 400th posting, their paid homage to comics that they loved, and I thought I would pass this along.

From Stupid Comics @ Mister Kitty International


From EC Comics, "Master Race",  Bernie Krigstein

Awesome looking book

http://www.scholastic.com/starwars/

ASMR- Running Bathtub

The movement of water is my favorite sound. An attachment to the sound of oceans, rivers, streams, rain and the like has gone back to my childhood. However, something far more mundane is my decided favorite.

Running bathtubs.

Yep.Sounds kind of wacky, but I find the gurgling and low pitched reverberation to be incredibly relaxing. It takes me back to a younger age.

I was glad to learn that I was not alone.
http://blogs.discovery.com/tlc-my-strange-addiction/2011/01/addicted-to-the-sound-of-water-.html

Running bathtubs always seemed to fill too quickly, even if you turned the faucet WAY down (unfortunately at the expense of a satisfying filling sound). This has finally been aided by a growing number of tub filling videos. Did Al Gore ever think his internet was going to be used for this?

I have attempted to collect a number of them below.

This is my favorite theme in all of ASMR- filling bathtubs in no particular order. My greatest thanks to all of the people who posted the content. These links are there to make referencing their material easier.

Low pitched bath filling- one hour

Home bath, see if you can catch the human voice in  the middle!

Combines bubbles, under water recording, and then draining of the tub. Quite a tour de force!



This is another that captures under water . There is a longer relative out there...

Excellent recording quality (one of the best). Unfortunately rather short.

Very good loop for falling asleep. One hour.

Really long (12 hours) and psychedelic for when that is what you need


Long and goes to black screen which is good for sleeping (8+ hrs)

lots of bathtubs filling at Freesound.org (a GREAT site...). Try sorting by length.
http://www.freesound.org/search/?q=bathtub


Please feel free to post comments and make suggestions. I know this is a bit of a niche market.

ASMR- Pending Compilations

If you are a fan of ASMR videos, you undoubtedly have your favorite themes. I certainly do, and I would like to post a series of compilations , if not just for the sake of having them all in one location. I will start with one of my favorites: running water- filling bathtubs.

See you in the next post!

Der Hölle Rache, mit Begeisterung