Every once in a while you stumble across a recipe that will be used time and time again. Brazil nut and black bean falafels is definitely one of those recipes! Traditional falafels are fabulous and grace our dinner plates quite often, but these little beauties are a fresh change. The mega crunchy and often ignored Brazil nut add texture and flavour that is enormous. The delicate black beans work as a binder as well as adding some body to the crunch.
The Brazil nut and black bean falafels come together relatively easy and make a decent batch. Leftover keep for about 3-4 days (if they last that long) and are great eaten cold as a side with salads or popped in a pitta, wrap or cabbage leaf. Yes, I said cabbage leaf. To eat these beauties I made a cherry tomato and mango salsa and then wrapped the falafels and a bit of the salsa in a lightly steamed cabbage leaf instead of a wrap or pitta. The result – absolutely gorgeous, the cabbage added to the crunch and worked perfectly as a vehicle for the falafel and salsa. To use cabbages leaves instead of a wrap or pitta, scroll down and I explain a bit more.
Brazil Nut and Black Bean Falafels
Serves 4
200g brazil nuts
1 medium onion
1/2 scotch bonnet chilli, no seeds or 1 red chilli
10g ginger
2 cloves garlic
2 tins black beans, drained and rinsed
10g each fresh mint, flat leaf parsley and coriander
lime, juice only
salt and pepper to taste
Cherry Tomato and Mango Salsa
150g cherry tomatoes
1/2 mango
1 green chilli or 10 pickled green jalapeños
1/2 red onion
1 tbsp lime juice
pinch salt
- Preheat the oven to 200 and line a baking tray with greaseproof paper.
Toast the Brazil nuts in a dry frying pan until fragrant. In a food processor finely chop onion, chilli, ginger and garlic. The mixture should be very fine. Add Brazil nuts and chop until well incorporated. Add the black beans, fresh herbs, lime juice and season with salt and pepper. Pulse the food processor just a few times to roughly chop and mash the beans and herbs. At this point, the mixture should easily form into shape in the palm of your hand. - Remove mixture from the food processor into a bowl and stir to combine. Taste and adjust seasoning. Using your hands, form mixture into shapes, either burgers, falafel or sausages. Place on the lined baking tray. Bake for 25 minutes or until golden on top and bottom.
- To make salsa, finely chop the cherry tomatoes on a cutting board by first slicing in half and then into quarters, then give a quick rough chop. Pick up the cherry tomato pieces off the cutting board and place in a small bowl, but leave all of the seeds and juices that have fallen out. Add remaining ingredients and taste to adjust seasoning.
- Serve Brazil nut and black bean falafels (or burger or sausages) with salsa on their own, in a pitta or bun, or wrapped in lettuce or cabbage.
Cabbage Wraps
To use cabbage leaves as a wrap, simply remove outer leaves and core from a large cabbage. Gently separate individual leaves and remove centre stalk by cutting out with a knife. Use raw or lightly steam (I steamed mine). If you are using a large cabbage that is tightly wrapped it may be easier to plunge the whole cabbage in boiling water for a couple of minutes and then begin removing leaves as they loosen.