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Newest wonderful discovery - Trader Joe's falafel mix. It's vegan, and has no oil in it either. You just add water to the dry mix. There are recipe directions for either fried or baked options. I baked mine, although it did say to spray the falafel balls with spray olive oil, which I did. I also sprayed the baking pan with spray olive oil.
Was fast and easy. Made falafel dough balls and put them into the sprayed baking dish, and baking was around 25 minutes. They turned out really good. Still stuck just a little to the pan, but they still came off with a spatula, without breaking up the falafel balls.
Made 19 falafel balls from the whole box, which cost $2.99. Real score. And delicious. Very spicy and yummy.
I'm thinking I may buy myself an air fryer for Xmas this year, so I don't even have to use that much olive oil. There are some fried things I miss, but I don't want to use oil.
Thanks for the tip, I love their frozen premade falafels and didn't realize there was an easy mix option with no oils.
I second buying an airfryer, I absolutely love mines and haven't used an oven since. I was skeptical at first but it cuts the time down and does a much better job than an oven. My only regret is buying a smaller one to save money. If you can get the largest size available.
Thanks for the tip, I love their frozen premade falafels and didn't realize there was an easy mix option with no oils.
I second buying an airfryer, I absolutely love mines and haven't used an oven since. I was skeptical at first but it cuts the time down and does a much better job than an oven. My only regret is buying a smaller one to save money. If you can get the largest size available.
I wasn't sure about getting one, either! I was thinking it might end up one of those fad kitchen gadgets that no one uses anymore and you see an abundance of at Goodwill (anyone else remember the breadmaker?) but I have found that I really LOVE it! I bought a smaller one (3.7 qt I think) but I am usually just cooking for myself so it's worked great. It is a big plus to not have to turn on the over and heat up the house...especially living in Phoenix!
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1 cup non-dairy milk
2 tbsp flour
2 tbsp non-dairy butter
6 tbsp nutritional yeast
1 tsp each of salt, pepper, paprika, garlic
1 tsp mustard (I prefer a spicy yellow, dijon or brown work too); can also use apple cider vinegar instead of mustard
In a sauce pan, make a roux with the butter and flour (med heat)
Add the milk and whisk in the nutritional yeast, salt, pepper, paprika, garlic, and mustard
Whisk frequently for about 5 minutes
Reduce heat to low and let sauce sit for another 5 minutes or so to thicken up
Serve over tortilla chips, pasta, or anything else that you like cheese sauce on
I love the idea of not having to use the oven. I hate cleaning ovens! And I think it makes sense to get a bigger one, just because I like to cook in large batches, so I don't have to cook as often. Then, I freeze or can my big batches of whatever.
I did freeze some of the falafel balls, and tonight I thawed them out and made sandwiches out of them and they thawed out perfectly. So now I know I can cook a big batch and freeze them. I just experimented with a few just in case they didn't thaw out and heat well. But, they were perfect - would never know they'd been frozen.
1 cup non-dairy milk
2 tbsp flour
2 tbsp non-dairy butter
6 tbsp nutritional yeast
1 tsp each of salt, pepper, paprika, garlic
1 tsp mustard (I prefer a spicy yellow, dijon or brown work too); can also use apple cider vinegar instead of mustard
In a sauce pan, make a roux with the butter and flour (med heat)
Add the milk and whisk in the nutritional yeast, salt, pepper, paprika, garlic, and mustard
Whisk frequently for about 5 minutes
Reduce heat to low and let sauce sit for another 5 minutes or so to thicken up
Serve over tortilla chips, pasta, or anything else that you like cheese sauce on
This sounds delicious. I've been avoiding as much fat as possible, so I'll have to look into the best options for non-dairy butter. But, I'm keeping this recipe.
I created a gravy recipe, in case anyone wants a more traditional tasting gravy. I use it on microwave-baked potatoes and green beans, or other veggies.
3 cups unsweetened vanilla flavored almond milk
1/3 cup nutritional yeast
3 tablespoons corn starch
2 tablespoons Bragg liquid soy protein or aminos - forgetting the full name, but it's the Bragg soy sauce you can buy at Sprouts, etc. It has a better flavor than regular soy sauce.
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon liquid smoke
Mix everything together - while it's still cold - into a sauce pan and use a whisk to mix it together. If you mix it all together while it's still cold, the corn starch will blend easily with just the whisk.
Heat it until it's bubbling. Cook until it thickens, stirring frequently with the whisk.
It's pretty much zero fat and really low in calories (unsweetened almond milk has about 30 calories a cup), but it does have a fair amount of sodium.
I also use liquid smoke in recipes where I miss a meat flavor, like split pea soup. It's kind of a secret ingredient that makes it taste like it has smoked hamhock in it. Same for other stew-type recipes, or even fajitas, etc. Gives it a grilled flavor.
I find that using the vanilla flavored almond milk gives it more of a sweet cream flavor, too.
I wasn't sure about getting one, either! I was thinking it might end up one of those fad kitchen gadgets that no one uses anymore and you see an abundance of at Goodwill (anyone else remember the breadmaker?) but I have found that I really LOVE it! I bought a smaller one (3.7 qt I think) but I am usually just cooking for myself so it's worked great. It is a big plus to not have to turn on the over and heat up the house...especially living in Phoenix!
I was also on the fence but decided to try it out and see for myself. The best part about air fryers is how much quicker it is overall than ovens, and the result is way better.
I have the 1.2 liters Dash 900W air fryer and I also cook for myself but there's not much room when I want to cook fries and also veggie burgers, so I have to split them up. I'd like to upgrade one day.
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