Falafel

Falafel balls are one of my favorite dishes, and you can eat them with salad or put them into tortilla with vegetables. Falafel is traditional middle eastern dish, vegetarian, and can be eaten as a starter or main dish. 

You will need: 

• 1 blender or food processor
• 2 bowls
• 1 spoon
• 1 tray
• 1 slotted spoon
• 1 saucepan
• paper towel

Ingredients: 

• 250 g chickpeas
• 3 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 1 handful of parsley, chopped
• 1 handful of coriander, chopped
• 1 chilli, chopped
• 2 tbsp flour
• 3/4 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp coriander seeds
• 1/2 liter vegetable oil
• salt
• pepper

Method: 

1. Leave the chickpeas poured with water in a bowl to soak overnight.
2. Drain off the water and spoon of the chickpeas in the blender or food processor. Be careful not to overfill the blender, you may have to fill it several times. Blend on full power to create a breadcrumb like mixture. Transfer the mixture into a bowl.
3. Put parsley, coriander, chilly, garlic and 2 tbsp of chickpeas mixture into the blender and blend until well combined.
4. Mix in the blended mixture into a bowl of pureed chickpeas. Add the flour, the cumin, the crushed coriander seeds, the baking soda and 1 and 1/2 tbsp of salt. Add some pepper and combine it all together with a spoon. Add some water if it is very dry. 
5. Mould the blended mixture of chickpeas into balls with your fingers and place them onto a baking tray. There should be around 25 to 30 balls, depending on the size. If covered, this mixture can be kept for 1 day in the fridge.
6. Preheat the vegetable oil.
7. Individually, spoon the falafel balls into the oil. Fry it for couple of minutes, until golden brown, stirring with the slotted spoon so they brown evenly. Then remove them and drain them on a tray covered with the kitchen towel. Repeat the process with remaining falafel balls.
8. Serve it with tahini, hummus or salad. 

Caponata

This dish comes from Italian cuisine and it is perfect for vegetarians and vegans, and for all of you who want to eat clean and healthy. I suggest that you prepare it in the late summer or in the early fall, since the base for this dish are eggplants and tomatoes. You may find these throughout the whole year in the supermarkets, but it is always the best to eat seasonal fruit and vegetables.  The best thing about it is that you can eat this both hot and cold, some say cold is even better. As a side dish, you can have rice, quinoa, bulgur, pasta or polenta. Enjoy!
You'll need:

• 2 frying pans or wok and a frying pan
• 2 bowls
• a peeler
• a knife
• 2 wooden spoons

Ingredients:

• 1 eggplant, chopped
• 2-3 large tomatoes 
• 1 red onion, diced
• 2-3 cloves of garlic, chrushed
• basil ( fresh or dry)
• 4 tbsp of olive oil
• 1 celery staple, diced
• 10 olives
• 3 tbsp of capers
• salt

Method:

1. Peel off the eggplant skin, slice it into cubes, put them into a bowl and sprinkle the pieces generously with salt. Let them sit for at least an hour. Rinse the eggplant in plenty of water to remove the salt, firmly squeeze a few pieces at a time in the palm of your hand to draw out almost all the moisture, and then pat the eggplant dry with paper towels. 
2. Remove the skin from tomatoes using boiling water. Place the whole, fresh tomatoes into a bowl. Cover with boiling water. Set aside for 30-60 seconds, or until the skins have split. Remove the tomatoes from the water using a fork. When they're cool enough to handle, peel off the skins and dice them.
3. Dice the onion and celery and crush the garlic.
4. In a wok or a frying pan, sauté onion and garlic in olive oil until onions are translucent. Start with onions to get them going, and then add garlic. Add a little water and cook until the onions become soft. Then add diced tomatoes and sprinkle it with basil. Cook until it becomes thick. Add olives and capers.
5. In another frying pan, pre heath the olive oil . Add celery and sauté eggplant cubes until they are soft and brown. 
6. Add cooked eggplant to the tomato sauce. 
7. Simmer for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
8. Season with salt if necessary.
9. Serve it with rice and eat it hit or cold :)

• TIP! Taste the tomato sauce before adding eggplant, and add a small tbsp of sugar if necessary!