For those who don’t know falafel:

It’s a vegan, protein-rich, fiber-rich, gluten*-and-other-allergen-free ball—sometimes a patty—of goodness, fried† to crunchy crispiness (photo #1), that has captivated food lovers the world over. It’s so meaty and chewy that newbies often don’t realize it’s meatless.

The ingredients include mashed chickpeas, fava beans, or a combination. In better recipes, lots of chopped cilantro and/or parsley and spices are highlights.

The inside of a good falafel ball should have lots of green herb flecks. At our favorite falafel place, the interior of the ball is half-green from parsley.

Falafel is traditionally served in a pita pocket (photo #2), wrapped in a flatbread (photo #3), or added to a mezze† plate or a salad plate. (MINI-TIP: Go for a whole wheat pita. It’s more flavorful and contributes toward your 48g of whole grains).

Falafel makes a filling lunch or snack. But there are a dozen more ways to enjoy falafel, below.

Want to make your own falafel? Here’s the recipe and cooking tips.

June 12th is International Falafel Day.
 
 
THE HISTORY OF FALAFEL

Some food historians believe that falafel originated in Egypt, as a food for early Christians who observed meatless holidays like Lent. It was made from the plentiful fava bean harvest, and today is one of Egypt’s national dishes.

Falafel then migrated northward to the Levant**, where local chickpeas replaced the fava beans.

Just think: If Saint Mark hadn’t established the Church of Alexandria in 43 C.E., (today the Coptic Orthodox Church), we might not have falafel!

In Arabic, the word means both “hot peppers” and “fluffy.” Today’s falafel doesn’t have to be either.
 
 
MODERN FALAFEL

In North America prior to the 1970s, falafel was found only in Middle Eastern, Mediterranean, and Sephardic Jewish neighborhoods and restaurants.

The growth in vegetarianism and veganism spurred its spread. Today, falafel is a popular casual fare in many cities in the U.S., as well as in Canada.

The conventional Middle Eastern treatment tucks balls of falafel into a pita pocket with a raw or pickled vegetable garnish (carrots, onions, turnips) and a creamy drizzle of tahini (tehina). Some restaurants and falafel stands substitute hummus for the drippier tahini, which can soak through the pita.

Hot sauce is optional.

The most common version of falafel served in the U.S. combines chickpeas, chickpea flour, garlic, spices, and sometimes fresh herbs and scallions. The blend is typically rolled into balls, sometimes flattened, patty style, then deep-fried until golden and crunchy.

Another appeal of falafel is that, like a slice of pizza, it can be eaten sitting down or on the go.
 
 
Creative Falafel Preparations

Whether as a sandwich or a snack, deep-fried food is always popular with Americans. In addition to bar snacks with a dip—not necessarily a Middle Eastern dip—today’s chefs have adapted the classic recipe in appealing ways:

 
Then, there’s our personal favorite, the falafel party bar, where we can build our perfect falafel creations.

You can buy frozen falafel, fry or bake your own (here’s a recipe), or purchase any or all of the ingredients from your nearest falafel emporium.
 
 
CHECK OUT THE CHART BELOW
FOR FALAFEL PARTY INGREDIENTS.

[1] Falafel balls can be served as a snack with a tip, as at Just Falafel.

[2] The classic presentation, in a pita pocket at Goldie Falafel | Philadelphia (photo Michael Persico).

[3] Shoestring fries atop falafel at http://dune.kitchen/” rel=”noopener” target=”_blank”>Dune on flatbread, at Dune in Los Angeles: Who’s going to complain?

[4] The falafel waffle, or fawaffle. Here’s a recipe from Food Republic.

[5] A falafel waffle cone, becoming popular at food trucks such as Alejandro’s Kitchen in Toronto (photo courtesy BlogTo).

[6] Falafel balls can be flattened, either to fit more conveniently into pita or other sandwich, or to serve as appetizers, as in this photo (photo © Good Food On Montford | Charlotte, North Carolina).

*Traditional falafel is gluten-free, but read the label. Some manufacturers add wheat flour or wheat germ to the balls don’t fall apart. Potato flour, soy flour, and soy protein can also be added. Recipes that use bread crumbs or flour can use gluten-free options.

†For frying falafel, canola oil, and peanut oil are monounsaturated fats (good for you fats). To cut down on fat calories, you can bake the falafel instead of frying.

‡Mezze are assorted dips and spreads and also include babaganoush, hummus, tabbouleh, eggplant dip, and other local favorites.

**The Levant included modern Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, the Palestinian Territories (the West Bank and the Gaza Strip), and Syria.

[2] How about a cup of beef bone broth? Here’s the recipe from Emily Goes Keto. NIBBLE tip: Add a splash of sherry.

[3] Start with the basics (photo courtesy Pairings And Platings).

Over the last few years, bone broth—made from the bones of beef or poultry—has become the darling of nutritionists, trendy chefs, foodies and the health-conscious. You can buy it from brands like Pacific Organic at the market, get it by the cup for takeout…or you can make your own.

Rich in nutrition, nourishing for body and soul, bone broth has been used by cultures throughout the world for millennia, to consume straight or as cooking stock.

Bone broth was a way our ancestors made use of every part of the animal: the bones, marrow, cartilage, ligaments, tendons with bits of meat, skin, feet. The long period of simmering caused the bones and ligaments to release nutritious and healing compounds.

In addition to healthfulness, bone broth is a soup and stock: a flavorful liquid to which vegetables and other ingredients can be added.

The difference is that while stock can be made in three or four hours, bone broth is simmered for 24 hours or more, extracting the maximum amount of nutrition from the bones.

But worry not about standing over the pot for a day. We have slow cooker bone broth recipes below.
 
 
THE HEALTH BENEFITS OF BONE BROTH

In the midst of a challenging flu season, bone broth is at the ready. Like its cousin, chicken soup, it helps in recovery:

 
More benefits:

 
 
GET OUT YOUR SLOW COOKER

You can make bone broth from scratch—with purchased bones and bunches of fresh carrots, celery and onions—or from scraps, as Plating And Pairing does, saving up bits and pieces in freezer bags (photo #3).

You can add herbs, garlic or whatever else you like (we like lots of parsley and dill, and have even used dried chiles). A spoonful of apple cider vinegar helps pull the nutrients out of the bones, without adding any vinegar taste to the broth.

Just in time for National Alfredo Day, February 7th, Bertolli has introduced two USDA-certified organic alfredo pasta sauces.

The creamy new sauces are available in two delicious varieties, including:

 
Available at grocers nationwide, these sauces are made from all-organic ingredients including aged parmesan and fresh cream.

The plain sauce [photo #1] has a delightful hint of nutmeg, while the garlic sauce is…lightly garlicky.

While Bertolli’s sauce is not as rich and artery-clogging as the original recipe (see below), it does need a sprinkle of fresh-grated parmesan cheese to achieve true Alfredo flavor.

(TIP: We buy fresh-grated parmesan, romano or pecorino at a specialty market—finely grated, not flakes), and keep the container in the freezer.)

While it isn’t part of the original Alfredo recipe, the dish is popularly enhanced with green peas. To tell the truth, the white-on-beige dish needs some color.

We also enjoy some shredded fresh basil or chopped parsley [photo #2], plus cracked pepper.

You can garnish at will; for example, with diced red bell pepper, and with other herbs or spices. If you like red pepper flakes, for example, sprinkle them on: a hot counterpoint to the creaminess.
 
 
MORE ALFREDO, MORE BERTOLLI

Americans must love Alfredo sauce. In the conventional (non-organic) line, Bertolli has five options: Alfredo with Aged Parmesan Cheese Sauce, Creamy Basil Alfredo with Aged Parmesan Cheese Sauce, Garlic Alfredo with Aged Parmesan Cheese Sauce, Mushroom Alfredo with Portobello Mushroom Sauce, and Reduced Fat Alfredo Sauce.

The organic Alfredo sauces join a lineup of organic red sauces, including Fire-Roasted Garlic Marinara; Five Cheese, Tomato & Basil, and Olive Oil, Basil & Garlic.
 
 
USES FOR ALFREDO SAUCE

While the original Chef Alfredo created a rich but plain pasta dish, subsequent cooks have used the sauce in more elaborate ways.

 
 
THE HISTORY OF FETTUCINE ALFREDO

For purists, the name in Italian is Fettuccine all’Alfredo.

The original recipe was created in 1914 by Alfredo Di Lelio, owner of Alfredo alla Scrofa restaurant in Rome.

As the story goes, Alfredo created the dish to appeal to his pregnant wife, who had lost her appetite. He served it with egg fettuccine, hoping that the “nutritious dish*” would do the trick.

In his restaurant’s kitchen, the hot fettuccine was tossed in a skillet with the grated parmesan, butter and cream. As the cheese melted into the butter and cream, it formed a sauce that coated the pasta. He finished the dish with grated parmesan.

Long before Alfredo created his recipe, Italians enjoyed variations of the dish: fettuccine al burro, fettuccine with butter; and fettuccine al burro e panna, with butter and cream—both served, of course, with grated parmesan.

When butter was added both before and after fettuccine was put in the serving bowl for tossing, it was known as doppio burro, double butter.

Alfredo tweaked the recipe slightly. He doubled the amount of butter in the bowl before the fettuccine was added, creating a triplo burro, triple butter, recipe. More butter made more of a sauce (and an even richer sauce).

Italian White Sauce Cousins

Alfredo sauce’s cousin is carbonara sauce, also a white cream sauce made with cream, parmesan, and eggs instead of butter. It is further flavored with onion, garlic and pancetta (streaky bacon is often substituted in the U.S.).

[2] In a classic Alfredo, the fettucine is drenched in the sauce. You can sauce your pasta more modestly. Photo courtesy Cooking Classy.

[3] Alfredo Primavera adds veggies, adding some “guilt-free” to the guilt. Here’s the recipe from Bertolli.

[4] Chicken Alfredo—no pasta, just chicken, plum tomatoes and alfredo sauce. Here’s the recipe from Bertolli.

Buon appetito!
________________

*Today, we know that a small serving of the “nutritious dish” has 455 calories, 38g of fat, 291mg of sodium and 143g of cholesterol. But for people who love rich, creamy food, it hits the spot
  

[2] We drink Rau from the bottle, but you can choose your vessel.

[3] Coconut lovers: You have another reason to be happy.

[4] Rau’s recipe for Chocolate Oat Brownie Batter oatmeal: 1/2 cup oats, 1/2 tablespoon cocoa powder, 1/4 cup of Bold Original Rau, 1/4 cup almond milk, plus 1/2 tablespoon chia seeds and toppings of choice.

How could any chocolate beverage with such low sugar taste this good?

We’re shamelessly in love with the bottled rink line called Rau. Chocolate has returned to its roots, as an energizing drink (it took thousands of years to produce solid chocolate—the history of chocolate).

How to describe Rau? It’s a line of dairy-free, cacao-based “superfood drinks” that are low in sugar and high in flavor.

Unlike chocolate milk, for example, the product tastes wonderfully healthful, as raw cacao does (the flavor is similar to a sweetened cacao nib). It’s not for the milk-chocolate-only crowd, but for those who enjoy semisweet chocolate flavor.

Dairy-free and vegan doesn’t mean richness-free. While the drink is not viscous, it’s the very lack of milkfat viscosity that makes it so refreshing.

The richness comes from cocoa butter, which is separated from the cacao bean when the cocoa powder is pressed (here’s more about cocoa powder production). The result is what we call “light richness,” one of those oxymorons that works.
 
A GUILT-FREE CHOCOLATE DRINK

The drinks manage to be both refreshing and indulgent; and at 120 calories/8g sugar per 12-ounce bottle, with clean ingredients, they’re a pretty guilt-free chocolate snack. It’s Rau a “naked” product, free of refined sugar, dairy, GMOs, soy and anything artificial*.
 
The cacao delivers the antioxidant benefits of raw cocoa†, and preserves vital nutrients with a technique called high pressure processed (HPP).

With HPP, the beverage is put under thousands of pounds of cold water pressure to eliminate bacteria while keeping the drink raw.‡ The company calls it “the first cold pressured chocolate beverage.”

Modestly sweetened with coconut palm sugar (8g), enhanced with a bit of monk fruit (lo han guo), a melon grown in Southeast Asia that, like stevia, provides a calorie-free, natural (non-chemical) sweetener.

The only challenge is that consumers are going to pronounce the brand as rhyming with cow, while the company pronounces it raw, as in raw cacao. (A point of trivia: The brand’s logo is a gorilla, and “rau” means hairy or shaggy in German.)
 
DON’T PICK YOUR FLAVOR: TRY THEM ALL!

There are six spot-on flavors, each a must-try:

 
MORE WAYS TO ENJOY RAU CHOCOLATE DRINK

We think the drinks are perfect as is, right from the bottle. But the sybarites among is should consider adding it to:

 
SEND IT AS A GIFT

You can buy it online and send it as a Valentine gift—or an anytime gift for a chocolate lover.

And by all means, bring a copy of this article to your local retailers and ask them to carry it.

The SRP is $3.99 a bottle, and worth every penny (we currently have a two-bottle-a-day habit).
 

*The ingredients are filtered water, cacao (cocoa) powder, cacao (cocoa) butter, Himalayan pink salt, vanilla or other extract, spices and monk fruit extract.

†The biggest typo in chocolate history: Cocoa is a transposition of cacao, the original name of the tree and its fruit (the pods that bear the seeds, or beans, that are harvested and roasted to start the chocolate-making process). The misspelling probably happened on an African trading ship manifest in the 18th century. But for some merchant’s mistake, we’d be drinking a nice hot cup of cacao and mixing cacao with butter, sugar and eggs to make brownies.

‡The high heat of pasteurizing, which cannot be used on raw foods, cooks off important nutrients.”

But we never got around to getting rose syrup.

This year, we found 4-ounce bottles of it, and are giving them as Valentine gifts along with a bottle of grapefruit bitters and this recipe (BYO vodka or gin).

If you prefer, you can substitute hibiscus syrup for rose. The syrup from Wild Hibiscus Flower Company has a candied hibiscus in the bottle, good for garnish.
 
 
RECIPE #1: VALENTINE ROSE COCKTAIL

Ingredients Per Drink

 
Preparation

1. COMBINE the vodka and syrup io a mixing glass filled ice; stir well.

2. STRAIN into a chilled coupe glass, topping off with a few dashes of bitters on top. Garnish with rose petals and serve.
 
Notes

 
 
RECIPE #2: ROSE SYRUP

If you want to make your own rose syrup, here’s how.
 
Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. COMBINE the ingredients in a heavy saucepan. Bring to a slow boil, stirring frequently.

2. BOIL for 5 to 10 minutes, until the liquid becomes a thick syrup. Remove from the heat. Add the food color to desired intensity.

3. STRAIN out the rose petals and pour the syrup into a the glass container.

[2] Monin and Torani make rose-flavored syrup, but Middle Eastern brands have more intense rose flavor (photo courtesy Monin).<
[3] Eat your roses in faloodeh, rosewater sorbet (photo courtesy The Persian Fusion).

We love faloodeh (faludeh), the heavenly Middle Eastern rose water sorbet. We’re fortunate enough to buy it locally, in Middle Eastern grocery stores.

It demands to be tried! Here’s a recipe.