Falafel and Cucumber Sauce

Since my husband and I were having Greek for dinner, I figured this would be the perfect time to finally try out this recipe. I've been eying it for awhile. I didn't have coriander so I omitted it. Next time I wouldn't use nearly as much cumin. It was overwhelming. It was a little work to mash the chickpeas. By warming up the chickpeas in the microwave for about 30 seconds to 1 minute, it was a little easier.

Ingredients

• 1 (15 ounce) can chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1/2 cup fresh parsley
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 egg
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 dash pepper
• 1 pinch cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 cup dry bread crumbs

• 1 (6 ounce) container plain yogurt
• 1/2 cucumber - peeled, seeded, and finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon dried dill weed
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 tablespoon mayonnaise

Directions

1. Spray cookie sheet with cooking spray.
2. In a large bowl mash chickpeas until thick and pasty; don't use a blender, as the consistency will be too thin. In a blender, process onion, parsley and garlic until smooth. Stir into mashed chickpeas.
   In a small bowl combine egg, cumin, salt, pepper, cayenne, lemon juice and baking powder. Stir into chickpea mixture along with olive oil. Slowly add bread crumbs until mixture is not sticky but will hold together; add more or less bread crumbs, as needed. 
3. Form 8 balls and then flatten into patties. Place patties on cookie sheet. Spray patties with cooking spray.
4. Bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes. Turn patties over, spray again, and bake for another 10 minutes.
5. In a small bowl combine yogurt, cucumber, dill, salt, pepper and mayonnaise. Chill for at least 30 minutes.

Source: Adapted from All Recipes