Oh cauliflower, how are you so talented? Pizza crust, cheesecake, bread, roasted, steamed, curried, riced… cauliflower is pretty much a canvas ready to be turned into whatever your imagination can create. And today it’s falafel!

The idea for these simply brilliant, delicious, and falafel was inspired by several different bloggers takes on cauliflower based meals. I can’t tolerate gluten so I am always looking for “flour” alternatives, and these falafels are also free of beans, legumes, and all grains so those paleo fanatics can enjoy them as well.

These falafel are not going to exactly mimic “real” falafel but the curry powder takes them in a different direction so that you don’t feel like you’re just eating a ball of blended cruciferous. The nutritional yeast adds another dimension of flavor while also adding some good ol’ B vitamins. You can use ground flaw in replace of psyllium or omit it completely, but without it, they are nearly impossible to slice without breaking. I prefer them baked with just eggs – and don’t mind them crumbling in my bowl.

You can keep these falafel for a day or two in the fridge but they are best served fresh out of the oven.

Curry Cauliflower Falafel

Ingredients:

1 large cauliflower
¼ cup almond meal
¼ cup nutritional yeast
1 ½ tsp. sea salt
1 tsp. curry powder
2 large organic eggs
1 Tbsp. sesame seeds
1 Tbsp. psyllium husk or flax (optional)

Directions:

Wash and chop cauliflower into chunks. Place in a food processor and blend until as fine as possible or use a box grater. Transfer cauliflower to a large mixing bowl. Add the almond meal, nutritional yeast, salt, curry powder and psyllium husk, if using. Stir very well to combine.
Preheat oven to 400°F
Whisk eggs together in a separate bowl. Add the eggs to the cauliflower mixture and stir until the “dough” is moist and will hold together.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Taking baseball-sized amounts of dough, squeeze them into a rough ball shape, then drop them onto the baking sheet (this helps to compact them shape the rest with your hands. Sprinkle the tops with sesame seeds and place in the oven. Bake for 20-30 minutes until the buns are golden brown around the edges. Enjoy warm tahini dressing and store leftovers in the fridge for 2-3 days.