WW Tofu-Falafel Salad
This simple salad, with crunchy celery, cucumbers and juicy tomatoes, is topped with 3 fiber-packed falafel patties and makes a filling lunch or dinner with less than 200 calories.
Servings: 4
Calories: 185
Ingredients
- ⅔ cup silken (soft) tofu
- ½ cup water
- 1 package (5 ounces) dry falafel mix
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 medium tomato, chopped
- ½ cup chopped cucumber
- ¼ cup chopped celery
- ¼ cup chopped flat-leaf Italian parsley
- 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 1 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 package (5 ounces) mixed salad greens
Instructions
- Process the tofu and water in blender or food processor until smooth.
- In a medium bowl, add the tofu mixture and stir in the dry falafel mix until thoroughly combined. If necessary, add additional water by the tablespoonful until you get a mixture that can be formed into patties that hold their shape. Let mixture stand for 10 minutes.
- Form mixture into 3-inch patties and place on clean plate.
- Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add falafel patties to hot pan and cook until golden and cooked through, about 4-5 minutes on each side.
- In a large bowl, stir together the tomato, cucumber, celery, parsley, vinegar and garlic. Add the mixed greens and toss to coat.
- Divide salad mixture evenly between 4 plates and top each salad with 3 warm falafel patties.
- Store any leftover falafel patties in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
Recipe Notes
There are lots of different falafel mixes out there—these are two that I found close by me, Knorr and Trader Joe's. I've also seen Sadaf brand falafel mix at our local Vons supermarket. Other popular makers of falafel mix are: Ziyad, Cortas, Tazah, Tarazi and Jerusalem Foods. I think they all will have different ingredients and nutritionals, as well as methods of preparation.
The Knorr brand falafel ingredients include: dried chickpeas, wheat flour, spices, matzo meal, dried onion, palm stearin, salt, leavening, garlic powder, guar gum and turmeric.
While the Trader Joe's version of falafel mix ingredients includes: fava beans, chickpeas, spices, sea salt, garlic powder, onion powder, baking powder, dehydrated parsley and sunflower oil.
In making these salads, I used Trader Joe's mix, but now I'm curious how the Knorr falafel mix compares in taste and texture. But this comparison will have to wait for another day.
As luck would have it, I couldn't find silken tofu when I went grocery shopping, so I substituted firm tofu and just processed it a bit longer until it became nice and smooth.
Since this recipe includes adding silken tofu to the falafel mixture, the directions are slightly different from those on the package. The original recipe calls for ⅔ cup soft silken tofu blended with 1 cup of water and then mixed with 5 ounces of falafel mix. I found this made my falafel mix too wet and I had to sprinkle in additional falafel mix until I had a drier consistency that I could form into patties.
So I rewrote my instructions to blend the tofu with ½ cup of water and mix the falafel. Then if it is too dry, you can add water by the tablespoonful until you achieve a consistency that can be shaped into patties that will hold together.
The directions on the Trader Joe's box have you blend ¾ cup of water into 1 cup dry falafel mix which you let stand for 30 to 60 minutes.
The directions on the Knorr box have you combine one bag of mix (about 3 ounces) with ⅓ cup plus 2 tablespoons water and let stand for 10 minutes.
Serving size: ¼th recipe (about 1-¾ cups greens with 3 falafel patties)
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5 *PointsPlus (Old plan)
Nutrition Facts
WW Tofu-Falafel Salad
Amount Per Serving (1 /4th recipe)
Calories 185
Calories from Fat 54
% Daily Value*
Fat 6g9%
Carbohydrates 23g8%
Fiber 7g28%
Protein 15g30%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.