Gluten & Dairy Free Falafel w/ Dairy Free Tzatziki

Gluten & Dairy Free Falafel 
w/ Dairy Free Tzatziki

Falafel- Such a fun word! Falafel is a common Middle Eastern, meatless dish made from chickpeas aka garbanzo beans.  A few weeks ago, I was really excited because we made falafel at school. Unfortunately, instead of following the recipe as directed, my class was instructed to use gluten infested bread crumbs to hold it together. Therefore... I couldn't try it. BUMMER!  This week I decided that I would make it at home.  I came across this recipe from Stephanie over at A Year of Slow Cooking. I like Stephanie's site because her family is gluten free as well, so its my go to blog when I am looking for a slow cooker meal sans gluten. So when I realized that she took a recipe that is normally deep fried and made it in a slow cooker, I had to try it!  Not only is this delicious, but it is a healthy and meat free meal that is truly satisfying.  My husband loved it so much that he had me make it again two days later!  The only changes that I made were using half of a lemon instead of a whole and I doubled the cayenne pepper like Stephanie suggests. Falafel recipe Here.

My husband, being the gluten and dairy eater that he is, had his on a pita and with Tzatziki sauce, which is traditionally made with Greek yogurt, olive oil and other seasonings.  I was curious about this interesting sounding sauce, so my husband guided me through making a dairy free version.  Instead of the olive oil and yogurt, I used light mayonnaise. I know I could have used soy yogurt, but since I did not have any on hand, I improvised.  Hope you enjoy!

Dairy Free Tzatziki Sauce

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon of light mayonnaise 
• 1 1/4 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
• 1/4 teaspoon white wine
• 1/8 teaspoon of salt
• 1/2 teaspoon dill
• 1 clove of garlic minced
• 2 tablespoons of cucumber minced
• 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
• 2 teaspoons water

Directions:

1. Peel cucumber, cut it in half and using a spoon to scoop out the seeds.
2. Place the cucumber in a paper towel and squeeze to remove as much of the liquid as possible.  
3. Chop the cucumber very finely.
4. Crush and mince a clove of garlic. You may also use a teaspoon of garlic that is pre-minced. 
5. Combine the remaining ingredients and mix well. 
6. Refrigerate for at least 10 minutes and use as desired. 

If any of you out there have a different recipe, I would love to here about it! You can never have too many recipe variations in my opinion. Have a wonderful gluten and dairy free day!