falafel me!

Sometimes, usually after a long day at work, the last thing I want to do is come home and start washing, slicing and dicing vegetables, make a casserole, or bake a chicken. Nope. I want to do nothing. That's when I turn to the easily "assemblebles"...Like falafel! It's healthy, delicious and qualifies as a comfort food.

Now I'm not one of those to sing the praises of a product because I'm secretly hoping to get endorsed by Fat-free Cool Whip or some other disgusting wanna-be food. But I do contend there are handy, healthy and yummy foods that can be heated and served in minutes; one brand I recognized because I worked at their original store on Pearl St. in Boulder, CO while home from school in Oregon. Like the dedicated college student that I was, I still found time to party into the wee hours of the morning despite working four summer jobs. One particularly long night - dropping acid tends to do that - after watching the sunrise from a perch on the Flat Irons above Boulder, I went directly to my first job at 5 a.m. prepping 500 pounds of vegetables for Falafel King. Imagine my surprise when I recently saw their name emblazoned on a bag of - yep, you guessed it - pre-made falafels. Remembering how delectable these bad boys were, I snatched them up. They take about 10 minutes baked in the oven, which I recommend over the microwave because it gives them a crisp outer shell that gives way into moist and fragrant yumminess that is the falafel itself - ground up chickpeas with Indian spices like cumin and coriander. Find them in a healthfood store. They're cheap and good for you. While they bake, dice half a cucumber, a clove of garlic and half a tomato (and quit your bitching because that is the only knife you will touch all night). Add these to a cup of plain yogurt - I like the creaminess and tang of Greek Yogurt - along with a squeeze of half lemon and about a 1/2 t of cumin, salt and pepper to taste.

Ok - product endorsement alert! Sorry, but if you want fast, then yes, you can't make the pita shell from scratch. I actually love this brand - Tandoor Chef - everything I've tried from them so far is divine - their veggie and chicken samosas, their chicken pad thai, and last but not least, their fluffy, flavorful naan, which I pile with stuff, fold and use as the shell for the falafel.

Naan is just softer than store-bought pitas - even if you do the trick where a sprinkle the pita with water and saute them in nonstick pan with a lid over the pita a minute or two to slightly steam them till they are soft and puffed up: something you should do to pita shells if you go that route.

After you bake the naan in the oven for two minutes, arrange four to six balls, a big dollop of the  yogurt cucumber sauce, tomato and some feta and wha-la! A quick and easy - and most importantly of all - TASTY dinner! I like to add a little hummus on the side as well, pictured above is red pepper hummus. This meal is surprisingly low in calories, high in fiber, is filling but not painfully so. Enjoy!