Quinoa Falafel Power Bowls

My Quinoa Falafel Power Bowls recipe is sponsored by Gatheredtable. All ideas and opinions are mine alone.

Hi there, I hope you all had a wonderful weekend! Happy Monday. What’s that saying? May your coffee be strong and your Monday short! I don’t know about you, but a big part of my case of “The Monday’s” is standing in front of the refrigerator after a long day and asking myself “what’s for dinner?” Unfortunately, the fridge doesn’t usually answer me and I’m left to fend for myself, which often means pulling something out of the freezer and hoping that freezer burn didn’t win. The odds aren’t good.

Well, not this Monday. Today I’m partnering with my friends at Gatheredtable to lead you to the end of that dreaded question. And not just for Mondays either. Gatheredtable is an online meal planning and grocery list that takes the rut out of your menu planning. It is such a flexible tool that whether you just need a little inspiration to create an amazingly delicious creation, or if you don’t feel like being imaginative and just want to follow a recipe and be guaranteed a good meal, Gatheredtable’s got you covered on both accounts.

How it works is you set up a very specific profile including how many times a week you cook on average, how much time you want to spend preparing meals, foods you don’t like or can’t eat and many other ways to customize your weekly or monthly menu. Then the magic man behind the curtain (or I guess in this case, website) curates a fully customized meal plan for you, complete with a grocery shopping for the recipe’s ingredients. Gatheredtable’s mission is to reduce the time, stress and money that can come along with preparing delicious meals at home. Mission accomplished. You can even clip recipes from around the web and add your own recipes and they will be entered into your library.

What I’ve enjoyed so much about my subscription is the inspiration that Gatheredtable provides. I love creating recipes but sometimes just don’t feel inspired to come up with something. I’ve been able to browse through their vast recipe collection and have been inspired to add many new creations to our meal rotation. One such recipe is for Quinoa Falafel Power Bowls. I hope you enjoy!

Quinoa Falafel Power Bowl

Print Recipe

Quinoa Falafel Power Bowl

Servings: 4

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup quinoa
• 1/4 onion chopped
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• Pinch of freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 1 15 ounce can chickpeas, drained
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 tablespoon corn starch
• Pinch cayenne pepper
• 2 teaspoons cumin powder
• ¼  bunch fresh parsley I'm not a huge fan of parsley so I vastly cut down on the amount that the original recipe called for. If you would like a more traditional falafel use ¾ bunch parsley.
• 1 tablespoon grapeseed or extra virgin olive oil for cooking
• 1 package baby arugula baby spinach and baby kale mixture
• 1 seedless cucumber cubed
• 2 avocados sliced
• 4 green onions thinly sliced
• 1 cup red cabbage shredded
• 1 package grape or cherry tomatoes halved

For Dressing:

• ¼ cup tahini
• ¼ cup plain greek yogurt
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice
• 3 tablespoons milk
• 1 clove garlic
• ½  cup extra virgin olive oil
• Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Dressing (can be made ahead and stored in the fridge for up to 10 days)

• Add tahini, greek yogurt, lemon juice, milk, garlic, salt and pepper to food processor or blender. Pulse until smooth. Slowly pour in oil while continuing to pulse until emulsified.

Quinoa Falafel Cakes

• Place quinoa in a pot with 1 cup water and a pinch of salt; bring to boil, then reduce to simmer. Cover and cook until quinoa absorbs water, about 12-15 minutes. Remove from heat, and let sit for 5 minutes, covered. Chop onion. Drain and rinse chickpeas. Add quinoa, chickpeas, onion, garlic, corn starch, 1 teaspoon salt, cayenne pepper, cumin powder, and parsley into a food processor and process until all combined. (Texture should be even small crumbs that stick together when pressed. Do not overmix though or mixture will become too sticky.) Scoop a heaping tablespoon of mixture into your hands, shape into a ball and press down to form cakes. Heat a large pan with grapeseed or extra virgin olive oil over medium-high. Cook cakes in batches in pan for about 2-3 minutes per side. Set aside.

Power Bowl

• Add arugula, spinach and kale mixture to bowls. Starting on one side of bowl, lay cucumber, tomato, green onion and red cabbage on top of greens. Stack 3 quinoa falafel cakes on top of red cabbage. Lay sliced avocado next to cakes. Serve topped with dressing.

Notes

Dressing (can be made ahead and stored in the fridge for up to 10 days): Add tahini, greek yogurt, lemon juice, milk, garlic, salt and pepper to food processor or blender. Pulse until smooth. Slowly pour in oil while continuing to pulse until emulsified. Quinoa Falafel Cakes Place quinoa in a pot with 1 cup water and a pinch of salt; bring to boil, then reduce to simmer. Cover and cook until quinoa absorbs water, about 12-15 minutes. Remove from heat, and let sit for 5 minutes, covered. Chop onion. Drain and rinse chickpeas. Add quinoa, chickpeas, onion, garlic, corn starch, 1 teaspoon salt, cayenne pepper, cumin powder, and parsley into a food processor and process until all combined. (Texture should be even small crumbs that stick together when pressed. Do not overmix though or mixture will become too sticky.) Scoop a heaping tablespoon of mixture into your hands, shape into a ball and press down to form cakes. Heat a large pan with grapeseed or extra virgin olive oil over medium-high. Cook cakes in batches in pan for about 2-3 minutes per side. Set aside. Power Bowl Add arugula, spinach and kale mixture to bowls. Starting on one side of bowl, lay cucumber, tomato, green onion and red cabbage on top of greens. Stack 3 quinoa falafel cakes on top of red cabbage. Lay sliced avocado next to cakes. Serve topped with dressing.

I found the falafel cake recipe (which was the spring board for this recipe) in Gatheredtable’s huge library of curated meals from categories like 5 Ingredient Dinners, Top 10 Slow Cooker Recipes, Pantry Favorites and my personal favorite, Hey Mikey, He Likes It!

If one of your New Years resolutions is to prepare more home cooked meals, or if you already love to cook but want to up your recipe game, I absolutely recommend that you check out Gatheredtable! They are currently offering a 40% discount ($72/year) on Annual Subscriptions which is sooo worth it; saving time and stress is priceless, am I right?!
Thanks to Gatheredtable for sponsoring this conversation.