A year of Mediterranean...

I haven't been able to get the family into another year of One Month at a Time, until now.  This was even Sanford's idea!  We are going to devote a year to eating only Mediterranean food.  We are considering doing for every meal, but the boys are a little reluctant.  We will have to see how that evolves.  I also have a little apprehension due to my love of Mexican and Indian food.  We will have each of those once a month.  Once a month is terrifying to Sam and Jack since their breakfast using consists of a burrito with leftovers. 

I love this falafel recipe.  It is by far my favorite.  One thing about it is when I used canned chickpeas the consistency seemed just right, but when I pressure cooked some chickpeas first I had to add flour to the batter to make it a consistency to roll in flour.  The difference may be in the fact that I drained, then rinsed the canned ones but I only scooped the pressure cooked ones from their cooking liquid.  The recipes that follows is from food tv.com

Falafel:

In a food processor add 2 1/4 cups chickpeas, 3 chopped scallions, 1/4 cup each chopped parsley and cilantro, 1 1/2 tsp cumin, 1 1/2 tsp coriander, 3/4 tsp cayenne pepper, 1 egg, juice of one lemon, 1 minced garlic clove.  Pulse.  Salt to taste.


Add 1 1/2 tsp baking powder and 1/3 cup flour.  Pulse to combine.  Refrigerate 30 minutes.


Roll falafels in flour and cook in about an inch of hot olive oil. 


For the Avgolemono I adapted a recipe from Williams-Sonoma Essentials of Mediterranean Cooking.  I have been tempted to make this recipe before, but it was always long and involved.  I wasn't even sure how much I would like it to put that much work into it.  But this recipe was quite easy and quick, and I loved it.

Avgolemono:

Add 4 cups stock, 1 quartered onion and 1 1/2 pounds chicken breast on the bone, skinned into a pressure cooker.  Bring to pressure.  Cook 5 min.  Run under cold water to release the pressure.  Drain the stock into a bowl.  Shred the chicken into bite size pieces.  (the recipe calls for simmer the chicken in a regular pot for 20 minutes)


Over med high heat, add 1 tbsp olive oil.  Add 1/2 cup chopped scallions, including green parts.  Saute 3-4 minutes.  Add 1/3 cup fresh dill (I used a tbsp of dried since I only had enough fresh dill for the tzatiki) and 3/4 cup long grain white rice.  Add the reserved broth from above.  Bring to a boil.  Partially cover and simmer 15 minutes, or until rice is tender.


Beat 2 eggs in a bowl.  Whisk in juice of 1-2 lemons (I used one).  Slowly whisk 1 cup of the broth and rice into the eggs, then add it back to the soup.  Cook, stirring, until thickened.  This took less than a minutes.  Add the shredded chicken and heat, being careful not to boil it.  Season with salt and pepper.  Serve with sliced scallions and a sprig of dill.