You ought to eat more vegetables if you are an average person.  Truth be told, if I get three fruits or vegetables in my diet a day, I feel like I am winning the battle against vegetables.  I try to make an honest effort but when I eat a vegetable heavy meal and I am starving an hour later.  Not that the excuse is necessary, you guys aren't my mom (all but one of you, hi, Mom!).  Fact of the matter, I could eat more vegetables.

Vegetables are also the place where I feel like a personal failure as a home cook.  I know I need to eat them, but I just don't like them as much as bread and meat things.  When I am planning the dinners for the week, it goes meat + starch + vegetable = meal.  The vegetable is usually one of those steam in a bag varieties.  Maybe I will remember to add some salt and pepper or a little butter.  Mostly we just force them down like an inconveniently sized vitamin.  I love this dish because it is LOADED with different vegetables and it is a break from boring old salad.

There is just something about brightly colored food that makes my mouth water.  It is a delight to the eye and a delight to the taste buds.  Zesty, spicy, crunchy and sweet.  This salad satisfies on many levels!

You will need:
1 small shallot, peeled and sliced into thin rings
1/4 cup fresh lime juice (about 2 limes)
1/4 medium serrano chile, seeded and minced
1/2 cup coarsely chopped cilantro
1 large ripe mango
1 English cucumber, chopped into 1/2 inch cubes
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 tsp kosher salt
2 TSP roasted salted peanuts

To start, take your shallot rings and dunk them into a bowl of ice water for about 20-30 minutes.  I don't know why or how, but this really takes the sharp bite out of the onion.  If you like 'em sharp, skip this step.

In a bowl, mix the lime juice, serrano, and cilantro together and set aside.

For the mango, you want to balance the stem end on your cutting board and slice off the 'cheeks' of the mango.  The center is a hard pit, so you are just cutting the flesh around it.  Take each cheek, and score the fruit with your knife with horizontal and vertical cuts.  You are making the fruit into cubes while still attached to the skin.  Scoop the fruit away from the skin with a spoon and you should have lovely square mango hunks.  Add the mango hunks to the lime juice mixture.

Next to the lime juice mix, add the cucumbers and tomatoes.  Drain the shallots from the ice water and add to the bowl.  Add in the kosher salt, and taste for seasoning.  Add more salt, serrano or lime if needed.  Toss well to mix and coat with lime.

In a small skillet over medium heat, add peanuts.  Toast in pan for 3-4 minutes, shaking frequently.  You want the peanuts to get fragrant and have some brown charred spots.  Top the salad with your roasted peanuts and serve.  Eat those veggies! :)

High-Five Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

Sweet Jesus, fall is here at last!  Nothing says fall to me like sweet potatoes.  They take me right to the Thanksgiving dinner table, even in the middle of April.  My normal sweet potato routine is to bake them and add some butter and brown sugar.  Simple and delicious, no problems here! This potato was so remarkably complex.  Never have I had a sweet potato with chickpeas and pomegranate seeds, so I wasn't sure what to expect.  I didn't hate it.  It was just a lot of ingredients to the point of overkill.  Sweet potatoes have such a strong flavor, and so does tahini, so all the other flavors seemed to get lost in the shuffle.  This potato was tasty, but I had trouble tasting the sun dried tomatoes or the lemon.  Was it necessary to even bother with those?  I don't know the answer.

Honestly, I have to say I prefer my simple butter and brown sugar sweet potato to this creation, however I am really glad I tried it.  It reminds me of how when I go to the cheesecake factory and always get the dutch apple caramel streusel cheesecake.  Every time.  It isn't like we go to the cheesecake factory all the time, so when we go, I am not going to waste a cheesecake opportunity on a risk.  But a time or two, it happened.  They were out of my #1 favorite cheesecake and I had to pick something else.  And you know what?  My favorite has never been ousted from the top spot.  Dutch apple caramel streusel will always be my number one.  But I still ate and very much enjoyed the other cheesecakes.  Sometimes it is for the best that we are forced to try new things. :)

I will give props to this potato, it was SUPER filling.  This would make a really good vegetarian lunch that will keep you satiated for a good while.  Might be worth a try?

You will need:

4 sweet potatoes (each about 3/4 - 1 pound)

2 TBSP olive oil, plus extra for drizzling

1/4 cup tahini

1/4 cup hot water

1 TSP lemon zest

2 TBSP fresh lemon juice

1 TSP honey

1/8 TSP ground cinnamon

1 can of drained and rinsed chickpeas (15.5-oz can)

2 TBSP sun dried tomatoes packed in oil, sliced

3 TBSP minced fresh parsley leaves

2 TBSP toasted pine nuts

2 TBSP pomegranate seeds

Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper

I will share the recipe way and the fast way.  I used the fast way.  Recipe way:  preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  Line a half sheet pan with parchment paper and use a baking rack over the paper.  Scrub  your potatoes well, pierce all over with a fork.  Coat the surface of the potatoes with a thin layer of olive oil.  Place potatoes on the baking rack, and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until potatoes can be easily pierced with a knife.  Remove from oven and set aside.

Natalie's fast way, because she works hard all day and doesn't want to spend hours in the kitchen making dinner: scrub your potatoes well.  Pierce several holes in the skin with a fork.  Lightly dampen a paper towel for each potato.  One at a time, wrap your potato in the damp paper towel.  It doesn't need to be extremely tight, but not loose either.  Microwave for 4 minutes.  Flip potato upside down and microwave another 3 minutes (or less depending on how cooked your potato feels midway through).  Boom, baked potato in minutes.  I microwave them one at a time because when I put more than one in they seem to heat unevenly and I have one that is very under done and one exploding from the heat.  I don't even oil them when I do this, so maybe it will save us a few calories.

For the topping, whisk together the 2 tbsp olive oil, tahini, hot water, lemon juice, lemon zest, honey and cinnamon.  Once those are combined, toss with the chickpeas, sun dried tomatoes, parsley, pine nuts, and pomegranate seeds.  Taste for seasoning.

Now to assemble, slice your potatoes lengthwise halfway through and press the ends to 'open' the inside.  Drizzle with some olive oil and add salt and pepper.  Pile in the chickpea mixture and top with some extra pine nuts, pomegranate seeds and/or parsley.  Dig in!

Real-Deal Hummus

This is not hummus that you scoop out of a tub you bought at the grocery store.  This is the hummus you get at your favorite Mediterranean restaurant.  It is infinitely tasty, so just try not to shovel it into your mouth by the spoonful, okay?  Lets try to keep some semblance of decorum here. :)

My litmus test of a good recipe is if I can get Aaron to eat something he typically isn't into.  In his defense, he is not a picky eater by any stretch.  He eats things I wouldn't even dream of, like chicken livers, sardines and tongues of things(blech!).  He is however, a very snobby eater.  If food is sub-par in any form he will turn his nose up at it.  He also claims to hate certain things, yet eats them when set it front of him?  I could write a book..  Anyway.  He claims that he isn't into hummus.  He LOVED this hummus.  I did too, but I love any and all hummus and am not a food snob in the slightest.

In the past when I attempted to make hummus, I just tossed a can of chickpeas, some tahini which I just eyeballed the amount, some salt, then I would just randomly add things to try and get the taste or consistency right.  Maybe some onion would help?  I think more salt.  No maybe more lemon.  Then I'd have about a gallon of mush that I didn't really want to eat.  I have to laugh at my former ways of trying to figure out cooking.  I am so not a natural at this.  Again with this recipe, the process is a large part of what makes this recipe outstanding, and not the ingredients alone.

This hummus is pretty easy to whip up and not even in the same ballpark as the premade stuff.  I halved the recipe and it was more than two people should have eaten, and we didn't even finish it all, so I am posting the recipe cut in half.

You will need:

1 can of chickpeas, rinsed and drained

Boiling water

1/3 cup of tahini (check the sidebar, I found amazon was much cheaper than my grocery store!)

juice and zest from 1/2 a lemon

1 clove of garlic

1 TSP Kosher salt

1/4 cup ice water

extra virgin olive oil

For the garnish:

1/2 TSP pine nuts, toasted (optional)

sprinkles of paprika

sprinkles of cumin

When you have your chickpeas rinsed and drained, set a few aside for the garnish at the end.  Add the chickpeas to a bowl that can handle high heat.  Put a kettle of water on to boil, and once water is up to a boil, pour over chickpeas until they are completely covered by a couple inches.  Let these chickpeas sit in the hot water for 15 minutes.  Soaking the chickpeas will soften them up very nicely so that they will puree into a smooth and fluffy hummus.  

Once 15 minutes is up, drain the chickpeas and pour them into your food processor.  Whiz the chickpeas for about 5 minutes by themselves.  They should be pretty smooth before you add more ingredients.

Next in with the tahini, lemon zest, lemon juice, salt and garlic.  Mix for about a minute, making sure the garlic gets incorporated very well.  No one wants to bite into a hidden chunk of garlic!  Now while the processor is going, pour the ice water through the top and then let it whiz for 5 minutes.  You are going to want to set a timer because it seems like a super long time.  I was a little worried the motor on my processor was going to burn up, but it made it though just fine.  Taste for seasonings and add more tahini, salt or lemon to get the flavor you desire.

You are now ready to serve!  Aarti's suggestion for serving real deal hummus is to scoop the contents of the food processor onto a plate, and with the back of a spoon smooth it in a circular motion to make lovely hills and valleys in your dip.  I could have gone a little more extreme with mine, the picture in the cookbook is much better looking! Make a well in the center (not too deep) and drizzle with the olive oil, then top with your reserved chickpeas and pine nuts.  In any artful fashion you wish, sprinkle with a light dusting of paprika and cumin.  I opted for the pizza slice design, I made an X across with one, then another X between with the other.  I though it turned out pretty nice?  

This hummus is warm and nutty with a hint of the bright lemon.  So so good, I don't know if I can ever go with the store brand again.  If you follow the basic recipe, I can't imagine it would be too difficult to throw different things in for different flavors.  I for one am a fan of the red pepper hummus.  I shall report back with my findings.  But here you have it, a delicious hummus that is certainly the real deal.  

Moroccan Carrot Salad

As weird as it seems, we do eat salad from time to time.  (lol!) This salad was probably the most interesting salad I have ever eaten.  Maybe if I knew about this salad in my youth, my vision wouldn't be so terrible?  

Aaron thought this salad was alright, but I really enjoyed the bright flavors.  I have always been an advocate for carrots.  They hardly seem like vegetables sometimes!  This citrusy fresh salad was perfectly timed with the exit of summer weather, as if one final hurrah before sweater weather.  But seriously, we don't get sweater weather in Houston until January- but I like to pretend.  

You will need:
1 large lemon, washed well, sliced into rounds, then the rounds quartered
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for cooking the lemons
1 1/2 TSP ground cumin
1/4 TSP ground cinnamon
1/4 TSP ground ginger
2 pinches cayenne
1/2 TSP orange zest
1/4 cup fresh orange juice
Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper
8 medium carrots, peeled and grated
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
2 TBSP toasted pine nuts

Salads hardly warrant instructions, but this one does a little.  Start with your sliced up lemon pieces in a cold pan.  Pour oil into the pan so that the bottom is covered.  On low heat, you will cook until the rinds of the lemon are soft and begin to brown.  This takes about 20 minutes.

For the dressing, you will mix the cumin, cinnamon, ginger, cayenne, orange juice and zest, salt and pepper all together.  Whisk in the 1/4 cup oil to incorporate with the liquid.  Taste for seasonings and adjust if any flavor is lacking according to your preference.

Toss the carrots, pine nuts, and parsley together with the dressing, mixing well to coat everything.  With a slotted spoon, remove your lemon pieces from the oil and add to the salad.  Some of the oil from the lemons that is infused with lemony flavor can also be drizzled over the top for added flavor.  Taste for seasonings and serve, while savoring that last little bit of summer.

Baba's Ghanoush (Baba Ghanoush)

I remember the first time I had baba ghanoush.  It was on a sampler plate at this tiny hole in the wall Greek restaurant in Denton, TX.  I thought I was pretty cool and culturally aware for having tried hummus in the year 2000, before it was as widespread as it is today.  I was exploring the depths of my newly found vegetarianism, and it was taking me on a cross continent taste tour.  I looked at the different globs of brown goop on the plate, grabbed a pita triangle and hesitantly dipped it in the mush.  I took a bite and I was transformed.  It was the culinary equivalent of Cinderella's tattered dress turning into the beautiful ball gown.  My tastebuds were never the same after that magical mushy bite.  The warm pita, the tart lemon with the olive-oily nutty eggplant.  I knew I could be a vegetarian for life and never feel deprived.  Well I was wrong about all that, but baba ghanoush is still one of my most favorite things to eat.  Can you find a better way to eat a vegetable??  I don't think so.  

You will need:

2 large eggplants

juice of 1 lemon

2/3 cup tahini

1/2 cup fresh minced parsley

Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper

Since I am rocking the electric stove, I used the stovetop method as described.  Prick the eggplants all over with a fork.  In a 450 degree oven, roast the eggplants on a large baking sheet for 20 minutes, until soft.  After the 20 minutes, I turned the broiler on the really char the outer skin, but that was me going rogue.

*Alternately, if you are using a gas stove, plop those eggplants on the open flame (one per burner) and with tongs, turn every 5 minutes until the outside is charred.  

Now that your eggplant is cooked, you want to set aside and cool for a few minutes.  These guys will be HOT.  

Once they are cool enough to touch, remove the stem and the ends, and carefully peel the charred skin off.  Mince the flesh of the eggplant into small chunks.  You can use a food processor but Aarti and I prefer a chunkier ghanoush.  It will get gummy if you over blend it.  

In a bowl whisk together your eggplant chunks, lemon, tahini, parsley, salt and pepper.  Taste and adjust the seasonings if you need.  Dig in!  (best served with warmed pita triangles)

Aloo Gobi

In my household, I really try to make balanced dinners.  What usually ends up happening on nights we don't have frozen pizza or cereal for dinner (we are going to make stellar parents one day..) we end up with the meat+starch+vegetable formula.  Vegetables are either frozen or out of a can, and if I remember, maybe a sprinkle of salt and pepper.  It is so boring, I am bored just telling you about it.  Every day of my life I have intentions to eat more vegetables, and be healthy and strong, and the frozen broccoli ain't cutting it.  Needless to say, when I looked this dish over I just knew it would be a hit, and the most interesting vegetable to ever adorn a plate in the Hinkley household.

It takes minimal effort beyond microwaving the steam-in-a-bag peas to whip up this colorful and tasty cauliflower and potato dish.  It almost looks like popcorn too, so that might be a good way to fool the little ones into eating vegetables!

You will need:

2 TBSP sunflower oil

1/2 TSP cumin seeds

2 cloves crushed garlic

1 medium yellow onion, sliced thin

1 Serrano chili - slightly punctured with a knife for less spicy, cut from stem to tip (but not split in two pieces) for most spicy

1/2 in piece of fresh ginger, peeled and minced

1 large Yukon gold or red skinned potato, peeled and chopped into 1/2 inch cubes

1 TSP ground coriander

1/2 TSP ground turmeric

1 head cauliflower (about 2 1/2 pounds) trimmed into bite sized florets

1 small tomato, diced

1/4 cup water

Kosher salt

1/2 lime

Handful of chopped fresh cilantro leaves

Fresh ground black pepper

In a large saute pan, heat the oil on medium high heat until almost smoking.  Add the cumin seeds to the oil (they should immediately sizzle) and crushed garlic.  In a few seconds the garlic should be golden brown on one side.  

Flip over the garlic, then add in the onions, Serrano, and ginger.  Stir everything together.  You are wanting to cook everything until the onions are soft and golden brown, about 5 minutes.  If they appear to be browning and becoming crispy too fast, lower the heat.  

Next toss in the potato, coriander, and turmeric.  Stir and try to get the potatoes well coated in the spice blend.  Cook for 3-4 minutes to seal in those flavors.  Repeat for the cauliflower.  Add to pan, toss to coat and allow to cook for a few minutes in the spices.

Now add the tomato, water, and a teaspoon of Kosher salt.  Cover your pan, and reduce the heat to low.  Cook for around 25-30 minutes until both potato and cauliflower are cooked through.  Add the squeeze of lime juice and the chopped cilantro to finish the dish off.  Taste for seasoning and add more salt/lime/pepper if need be for your personal tastes.  Enjoy!

Chickpea Artichoke Masala

Chickpea artichoke masala took me by surprise.  It was the end of the week, and I was on day three of not feeling like cooking when I came home from work.  I usually stock the fridge with one or two convenience meals per week for such an occasion.  However it was Friday.  We ate frozen pizza two nights ago, and take out the night before.  I thought, I need to go ahead and tackle that recipe.  Half the items are out of cans, it won't be too much effort.  

When I make my grocery list for the week and decide which Aarti Paarti recipes to tackle for the week, I let the visually appetizing pictures lure me to them.  This recipe caught my eye because I love artichokes big time.  Well Aarti and I must be simpatico, because I turned to page 184, and read that this recipe came to Aarti whist donning sweatpants and trying to throw a quick dinner together with what she had on hand.  I gathered my sweatpants wearing self to the kitchen and got to work.

This chickpea artichoke masala may not be much to look at, but it was very tasty.  I am mainly accustomed to eating artichokes via a cheese laden dip, so it was great to explore new ways to use this tasty bulb.  I served this with rice and naan and it was a very filling and healthy meatless dinner for a Friday.  Maybe you will like it too?

You will need:

1 medium yellow onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic

1/2 in peeled and minced fresh ginger

2 large ripe tomatoes, chopped

2 TBSP sunflower oil

1 TSP cumin seeds

1 TSP ground coriander

1/2 TSP garama masala

1/4 TSP paprika

1/4 TSP turmeric

1/4 cup plain yogurt

1 TBSP fresh lime juice (juice for 1/2 a lime)

1 (14.5 oz) can of chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained and rinsed

1 (14.5 oz) can artichoke hearts, drained and rinsed

1/2 cup water

First you take the onion, garlic, ginger, and tomatoes and blend until smooth in a small food processor or mini chopper.  Mine stayed a little chunky, but blend to your desired smoothness.

In a large skillet, heat the oil until shimmering and very close to the smoke point, over medium-high heat.  Add in the cumin seeds and let them boil/pop for around 30 seconds.  Next add in the tomato onion paste.  Sauté until mixture darkens and thickens, around 10 minutes.

Next go the spices.  Add the coriander, garam masala, paprika, and turmeric.  Sauté for about 30 seconds.

Now time for the yogurt.  Slowly drizzle in so it does not curdle.  Add lime juice, chickpeas, artichokes and water, then simmer together for 10 minutes.  Season if need be, and serve.

Shakshuka

There is nothing more beautiful than Shakshuka.  Just take a moment and take it all in.  Shakshuka can be a delightful brunch, as Aarti prefers, or it is just as well a breakfast for dinner to captivate hearts.

This dish is what I so lovingly refer to as the Middle Eastern huevos rancheros.  Aaron loves huevos rancheros so much, so I must begrudgingly prepare it from time to time.  I am not really into it, truth be told.  Shakshuka, though.  Next level stuff, people.

I think people get the wrong idea about Indian food and that it is way too heat spicy for their palate.  Thus far in my cooking adventure I have yet to have anything cross the threshold of too hot to handle (and I am a mild gal, all the way).  This dish is yet another that elevates the simple egg into a near Nirvana-esque plate of food.

Aarti suggests serving this with crusty bread that you've rubbed with a clove of garlic, but we went with the world class naan from Trader Joe's frozen section.  It is the best ever.    

You will need:

1/4 cup olive oil*

1/2 TSP cumin seeds

1 small cinnamon stick

1 large yellow onion, sliced 3/8 in thick

1 fennel bulb, out leaves removed, fronds reserved - bulb sliced 3/8 inch thick

kosher salt

1 red bell pepper, sliced 3/8 in thick

1/4 TSP red pepper flakes (more or less to taste)

1/4 TSP turmeric

2 TSP granulated sugar

4 cups diced ripe tomatoes

small handful of roughly chopped parsley, plus more for garnish

5 or 6 large eggs

1 3oz block of feta cheese (in brine is best)

crusty bread, toasted (or naan)

*Aarti's recipe lists extra virgin olive oil, but I learned a while ago that you shouldn't cook with extra virgin olive oil.  It is so refined that it will smoke (burn) without much heat at all.  This oil is best reserved for salad dressings, or a dip for bread, but not anything that involves high heat.  Regular olive oil, like the Italians use, is the proper olive oil for cooking.

Onward!

Heat the oil over medium heat in a heavy bottomed skillet.  When oil is hot and shimmering toss in the cumin seeds and cinnamon stick.  Only let these sizzle for a few seconds, then add your fennel and onion.  Add about 1.2 TSP of salt, and stir to coat everything in the oil.  Reduce the heat to low and simmer around 10 minutes until onions are light brown, stirring every few minutes so nothing burns or sticks.

Once your onions are a gorgeous light brown color, add the bell pepper, red pepper flakes, turmeric and sugar.  Crank the heat back up to medium and saute until bell peppers are soft and get slightly browned. This should take around five minutes.

Next add the tomatoes, parsley and some of the reserved fennel fronds and another 1/2 TSP of salt.  Reduce the heat to low again, and allow to simmer for another 15 minutes until the texture resembles stew.  Feel free to add water if the mixture gets too thick.

After 15 minutes of simmering, do a flavor check.  Add more salt, pepper or red chili flakes to get the taste just as you like it.

Now time for the eggs.  With a spoon, make 5-6 little indents in the sauce- one for each egg.  Carefully break an egg into each one, working quickly.  If you aren't the best at cracking eggs, crack them into a bowl first, then remove any shells that get in there and easily transfer the egg into the indentation in the sauce.  

Break the feta cheese into crumbles and sprinkle over the mixture - but not onto the eggs.  Cover the pan and heat for 5-8 minutes until the eggs are cooked through.  Ideally the yolks will be a tad runny so that beautiful yolk runs through the spicy tomato mixture when you eat. 

When the eggs are heated through remove the cinnamon stick, and garnish with remaining fennel fronds and parsley. Then bask in the wonder of your most glorious creation.  

Pealafels

Maybe you have heard of falafel?  I am a HUGE fan.  I can't get Aaron to get into it no matter what I try.  I love the flavor, I love the crispy texture, and by gosh I love anything stuffed in a pita with tzatziki sauce.  Whenever we are in a Middle Eastern or Greek restaurant, you can be sure that I will choose the falafel.

But, pealafel?  Color me confused.  I was a tad scared this creation would be overly sweet due to the peas, and I was just unsure about the mint.  Who eats so much mint except in jelly form with lamb? 

I, Natalie Hinkley, have been to the other side of this pealafel recipe, and let me tell you this: it is damn delicious.  The outside is crisp while the inside is warm and soft with the freshness of the mint yogurt sauce.  To.die.for.  These even won Aaron over, Mr. Ihatefalafelguy. I may never make a falafel again, it is pealafels for this household!  

You will need:

1/2 TSP fennel seeds

1/4 TSP coriander seeds

1 cup plain yogurt

1/2 cup of chopped fresh mint

3/4 cup whole fresh mint leaves

kosher salt

1 cup frozen peas, thawed and drained

1 cup frozen edamame, thawed and drained

1 large shallot, rough chopped

1 clove garlic

2 TBSP extra virgin olive oil

1/4 cup chickpea flour

Sunflower oil for frying

2 large pita breads, cut in half to make pockets

2 large vine-ripened tomatoes, diced

1 large english cucumber sliced into rounds

A spice grinder and food processor are helpful too!

We start with a dry pan over medium heat.  Toast the fennel and coriander seeds for about 2 minutes until fragrant and darkened.  Next transfer to a spice grinder and pulverize them into a powder.

Time out to make the yogurt sauce.  In a small bowl mix the yogurt, 1/2 cup of chopped mint leaves and a healthy pinch of kosher salt.  Cover and refrigerate.  This sauce will be the topping on your pita pocket at the end.

Now, it can't get much easier - toss the 3/4 cup whole mint leaves, shallot, garlic, peas, edamame, ground spices, olive oil and salt to taste into the food processor.  Puree until smooth as it will get, noting the edamame won't completely grind down so well.

Move the puree into a bowl and add the chickpea flour.  This flour, in my experience, isn't crucial - you can use regular ol' flour instead.  I also tried it with whole wheat flour and it was pretty swell.  

Heat your oil in a pan over medium heat.  You want the bottom to be covered about 1/4 of an inch.  Keep a plate nearby with paper towels to place the cooked pealafel and absorb the excess oil.

With wet hands, form you pealafel rounds into a golfball size, then flatten into a patty.  There should be enough 'dough' to make around 12.  Drop carefully into the hot oil.  They will need about 2 minutes per side to get nice and browned.  remove from oil and let rest on the paper towel lined plate.

Pro-tips:  I made these one time and they fell apart as soon as they hit the oil.  I concluded that there was too much flour or oil in the mix.  When i followed the instructions more precisely they held better.  I also was having trouble getting the crispy outer crust.  It helped when I lightly dusted flour on the outside of the patty and made sure to not touch/flip them until the time was up.  Moving them around or over flipping the patties resulted in a mushy pealafel.  

Now that those easy peasy pealafels are fried and ready, we can assemble the pitas.  Cut your pita bread in half so you have two pockets fill with 2-3 pealafel patties, diced tomato, sliced cucumber and your minty yogurt sauce.  Enjoy!