Community Cookbook: Greta’s Falafel Crumble Salad

Greenpoint’s Greta Coffee and Kitchen (204 Nassau Ave.) is a woman-owned, neighborhood cafe serving Israeli and Mediterranean dishes and locally roasted specialty coffee. The name, Greta, is a nod to the owner’s grandmother, who owned a family restaurant in Tel Aviv in the 1940s.

For this week’s Community Cookbook addition, Greta has shared a recipe for Falafel Crumble Salad. Greta told Greenpointers that the salad is vibrant, flavorful, and “the perfect dish for a hot summer night.”

See the recipe for Greta’s Falafel Crumble Salad below and see last week’s Community Cookbook recipe here.

Greta’s Falafel Crumble Salad

Ingredients

2 cups of dry chickpeas, soaked overnight 

1 ½  cups of mixed herbs: parsley, mint and cilantro (1 cup for falafel crumble and ½ as salad garnish)

1 yellow onion, chopped

4 garlic cloves, chopped

1 teaspoon of cumin

½  teaspoon of paprika

½  cup of tahini paste

1 tablespoon of lemon juice

¾ cup of cold water

1 cucumber

1 tomato

½ cup of shredded red cabbage 

½ cup of shredded green cabbage 

Pickles, cut into cubes

Salt

Directions

Falafel Crumble

1. Drain the chickpeas and blend in a food processor with 1 cup of mixed herbs, onion, garlic, cumin, paprika and salt. 
2. Oil a baking sheet and spread the falafel mixture 1/8” thick. 
3. Drizzle olive oil on the top. 
4. Bake at 350F for about 35 minutes until golden and crispy.

Tahini

5. Mix tahini paste, lemon juice, salt (about ¼ tsp) and cold water. 
6. Mix until the tahini paste has a creamy consistency, add water as needed, and continue to mix.

Salad Assembly

7. Spread the tahini at the bottom of the plate.
8. In a bowl, mix the chopped tomatoes, cucumbers, cabbage, and pickles, and season with salt, pepper, olive oil and  lemon juice. 
9. Place on top of the tahini
10. Place falafel crumble on top.
11. Garnish with ½ cup of the mixed herbs .
12. Enjoy!