OSCARS! Yes! It never fails…no matter how obvious some of the awards can be year to year, I’m always sweating bullets.
This, my friends, was the year of ugly crying through the beautiful yet tragic journeys of English scientists. I was (and am still) legitimately torn between Eddie Redmayne’s and Benedict Cumberbach’s performances on an unnecessarily emotional level.
…Which is crazy because, going into both movies, I knew exactly what was going to happen. Yep. I was the kid who did a report (all Encarta-researched, no less) on Stephen Hawking in 5th grade. Poor Alan Turning had to wait till 8th grade…
Anyway. This was why the Best Picture and Best Actor presentations were total Sophie’s Choice moments for me. Except that after being left thrilled-yet-tortured after Best Actor, after Best Picture I was just pissed at myself that I never saw Birdman.
And then I tried to have a conversation with my husband about Brane Theory that kinda went south after I decided to bombard him with stuff about 26-dimensional layers of existence when all he wanted to do was finish his finance homework. There’s a reason only one of us chose a career in science.
(Whatever, Stephen Hawking/Eddie Redmayne has been on my mind lately and while I think Alan Turing has an amazing story and legacy I’m 110% computer illiterate. I’ll push my mental limits as far as they’ll go trying to comprehend and model dark matter universal size/shape, but I’ve already accepted that even my 5 year old laptop will win every time.)
So. After all that, I made dinner. You may remember this from before, but this time I decided to dress it up with some other fun falafel fixin’s. Definitely a nice addition to my whole sandwich-in-a-bowl collection, but I’m still on the hunt for a good grain-free or Paleo pita. (My last attempt ended in a giant mess on the kitchen floor that even the dog wouldn’t touch…if you have a good recipe, let me know!)
Savory paleo falafel bowls with greens, roast vegetables, and sweet potato hummus.
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground chicken or turkey
- 1 small onion, diced
- 2 medium carrots
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
- 4 cloves garlic
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1/4 t ground cardamom
- 2-3 T olive oil
- 1 medium eggplant, sliced
- 2 c sliced mushrooms
- 1 onion, sliced
- 1 red bell pepper, sliced
- handful cherry tomatoes, sliced
- 4 c chopped romaine or assorted greens
- 1/2 c tahini
- 4 T hard cider (or regular apple cider or apple juice)
- 2 T lemon juice
Instructions
- Toss the eggplant, mushrooms, onion, and bell pepper slices with olive oil. Arrange on a baking sheet.
- Roast at 450 degrees for 20-30 minutes, or until browned and lightly crisped around the edges.
- Meanwhile, make your falafels...
- Add the onion, carrots, parsley, and garlic to a food processor. Pulse until the bits are very small but not so much that you get a smoothie.
- Mix the meat with the veggies, egg, and spices.
- Form into balls. Cover with plastic and let sit for an hour or two, even overnight if you want to make ahead.
- In a heavy bottomed frying pan, heat 1/4 inch of oil over medium heat.
- Fry the meatballs on all sides till cooked through, about 15 minutes.
- Whisk together all ingredients for tahini sauce.
- In serving bowls, lay a layer of greens and top with falafel, roast veggies, and tomatoes. Drizzle with cider-tahini.
