A few years before the birth of this blog, I was struck with the knowledge that there was a lot of food out there I had never tasted. New flavors, textures and cuisines all together I had never even given notice to. The rest is history. Now, wrought with heavy debate, I can not choose my favorite type of food, my favorite meal, dessert or more. And every day I discover more.
Once you are open and willing to try new things there is so much more out there then you could have ever imagined. One of the moments that shocked my taste buds was my first bite into a falafel... It was everything my umami loving self wanted - and it was perfectly vegetarian. The closest moment I have ever had to being a vegetarian. It was the most delicious little bite I had ever experienced.
Falafel isn't something I get to make to often in this mac and cheese white bread household, but when I can sneak in the flavors on something like chicken fingers - I jump all over the chance! I saw this, ripped it out of the magazine and made it. No eyebrows raised at the table, no questions asked... Secret mission falafel chicken won.
So get the kids involved in these exotic flavors by pairing these falafel-crusted chicken fingers with Disney's Aladdin, and whether you have a prince, princess, or both, they will all enjoy! (seriously, the Genie still cracks me up)
Falafel-Crusted Chicken with Hummus Slaw
from Food Network Magazine Jan/Feb 2012
Ingredients:
- Cooking spray
- 3 skinless, boneless chicken breasts (about 1 ¼ pounds), sliced into ¼-inch-thick strips
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- ½ cup falafel mix
- 2 whole-wheat pitas, halved
- 6 tablespoons hummus
- Grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
- ½ teaspoon harissa or other hot chile paste*
- 4 cups shredded coleslaw mix
- 6 radishes, halved and thinly sliced
- 1 cup chopped fresh parsley
- Kosher salt
Preparation:
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Set a rack on a rimmed baking sheet and coat with cooking spray. Toss the chicken with the olive oil in a large bowl, then add the falafel mix and toss to coat. Arrange the chicken on the rack and bake until golden and cooked through, about 10 minutes. While the chicken is baking, stack the pita halves and wrap them in foil; warm in the oven, about 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, mix the hummus, lemon zest and juice, harissa and 3 tablespoons water in a large bowl. Remove 2 tablespoons of the hummus sauce and reserve. Add the coleslaw mix, radishes and parsley to the remaining hummus sauce and toss. Season with salt.
Divide the chicken among plates and drizzle with the reserved hummus sauce. Stuff the slaw in the pitas and serve with the chicken.
*if you think chile paste or harissa is too hot for the taste buds at the table, try using a hummus with some punch (like roasted red pepper) and omitting this ingredient all together.
Belinda @zomppa says
I love this! Such a creative use...could be more vegetarian, too, with dishes like this!
The Mom Chef ~ Taking on Magazines One Recipe at a Time says
I spent a summer in Israel when I was in high school and we had falafels every single night. I have a serious love-relationship with them. Which, of course, means that I was all kinds of happy to see this dish. It looks amazing. What a great idea.
Yeah, I think the genie was one of Robin Williams' best jobs ever.
Anita at Hungry Couple says
We love Mediterranean and middle eastern flavors and falafel and hummus are favorites. It never occurred to me to coat chicken with falafel mix, though, or to mix slaw with hummus. Hmm...this needs exploring. I do strongly recommend mixing the slaw with tahini sauce.
Julia {The Roasted Root} says
Yum! I'd love a pita stuffed full of your falafel crusted chicken with a ton of your hummus slaw. Wonderful meal!
Kiri W. says
Falafel crusted chicken? That sounds absolutely delightful. I tip my hat top your genius.
Vicki @ WITK says
I was so food-sheltered until I moved to the Culinary capitol of Wisconsin - Madison! 🙂 I'm so happy to see Alladin offering us some delicious dinner options, I love falafel and its the only thing I will order at the Greek restaurant!
Kelly says
What a fabulous recipe Kita, this looks absolutely delicious! 🙂
kimberly (unrivaledkitch) says
awesome. Beautiful photos. I love these types of flavors and I'm lucky enough to have a good handful of eateries that make pretty amazing falafel and other Arabic flavors that i so dearly love. Very nice sneak attack I love it .
RavieNomNoms says
Wow Kita! Totally winning with this recipe. It looks great. I definitely am putting this in the queue.
Steph@stephsbitebybite says
This is such an interesting take on falafels! I have got to try this out!
Stephanie @ Eat. Drink. Love says
This is a cool recipe, Kita! I love falafel so I would be all over this!
The Harried Cook says
This is such an interesting dish... and it sounds & looks really tasty! I think you are very creative 🙂 Thank you for sharing!
Part Time House Wife says
This caught my eye on foodgawker. I LOVE falafel. I absolutely need to try it!
Jenny @ Savour the Senses says
Thank god for RSS feeds. I finally have had a minute to read through all the posts from my favorite blogs and am so happy I saw this!! On my list to make ASAP!