Ultimate Falafel Salad

Last post, I wrote about how I like to eat pickled purple cabbage on top of salads. Well, I particularly love it on top of this falafel salad. The ultimate falafel salad, named for its greatness.  It has a little bit of everything, a veritable party on your plate.

I have a penchant for Greek foods in summer- olives, tomatoes, chick peaks, grape leaves- that are light and playful, yet bold and bursting with flavor.  I live off this stuff and my tummy loves me for it. When the sun sizzles through the clouds and I can’t see another soup, stew, or casserole on the horizon for at least another six months, I search for lighter fare to eat. And this falafel salad makes for a lovely, seasonal change of pace.

To get you started, I’ve listed my favorite ingredients below but this is truly just the tip of the ice burg. You could really add so much more to it. I can name babaganoush, cucumbers, and tomatoes off the top of my head. Feel free to adjust the recipe and ingredients to suit your taste. Add more of the things you like and less of what you don’t.  Have fun making it your own.

Ingredients: (1 salad)

3 falafel balls (make ahead of time)

1 large handful of mixed greens

4 olives

1 to 2 grape leaves

1 Tablespoon hummus

1 Tablespoon crumbled feta

1 Tablespoon tabouleh

1/2 cup pickled purple cabbage

Directions: Unlike most salads, this is not the type of salad to mix. It’s best to layer on the ingredients.

 

Build it from the lettuce up. Lettuce, then falafel, then hummus, then tabouleh, then olives and feta, cabbage and the grape leaves go on the side. We do this sort of buffet-style in our house.

 

Of course, you don’t have do it in exactly that order. Even if it is the best way. I’m just saying…

  

A masterpiece.

To save time, make the falafel ahead of time and refrigerate. Each of the ingredients can be found at the grocery store, but if you are feeling adventurous, you could make the hummus and tabouleh from scratch. There are so many options with this salad. Oh, and it travels perfectly as a packed lunch.

Other posts you may enjoy:

1. Homemade Falafel
2. Greek Lentil Salad
3. Greek Isles Potato Salad with Lindsay Olives
4. Crispy Tortilla and Black Bean Salad with Creamy Jalapeno Ranch
5. Grapefruit and Avocado Salad

Tagged as: chickpeas, dinner, falafel, feta, food, grape leaves, greek, healthy recipes, healthy salads, hummus, lebanese, lunch, mediterranean, olives, salad, snacks, turkish, vegetarian