Falafel Pitas with Cucumber-Yogurt Dressing

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Hello all and Happy Summer! As you can tell, I've taken a summer blog writing hiatus. It's been wonderful, but I'm so happy to be back! I've had lots of blog posts swirling around in my head and this recipe for falafel is one of them.

My friend just purchased her first home and we wanted to celebrate by making dinner at her new place! We tossed around some dinner ideas and finally ended up deciding to make this recipe! I had first made this recipe back in the summer of 2007. My family had received a subscription for Cooking Light and I loved the monthly magazine and flagging recipes to make. I ended up flagging this one back in January of 2007 and finally got around to making it for my family that August. I loved it then, and I still love it to this day. The ingredient list is short and this meal can be prepared in 15-20 minutes. It's the perfect weeknight meal!

Falafel Pitas with Cucumber-Yogurt Dressing
adapted from the Cooking Light recipe, January 2007
serves 4

for the falafel:
1/4 cup minced red onion
1 tablespoon dijon mustard
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 can (15 1/2 ounces) of chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1 slice whole-wheat bread, torn into pieces.
1 large egg
1 large egg white
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 whole wheat pitas, split
1 cup spinach

for the cucumber-yogurt dressing:
1 cup plain, nonfat greek yogurt
1/2 cup diced, seedless cucumber
1/4 cup minced red onion
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

Directions: 
Combine onion through egg white in a food processor until well blended (mixture will be wet).

Heat olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Spoon about 1/4 cup chickpea mixture per patty into the hot pan (I used this cookie scoop to form uniform patties). Cook 4 minutes and then flip and cook 4 minutes on the other side. 

For the dressing, combine all ingredients in a small bowl and chill until you're ready to assemble your pitas.

Fill each pita half with 1/4 cup spinach and add two patties to each pita half. Spoon 2 tablespoons of Cucumber-Yogurt Dressing into each pita half.

Serve and enjoy! xoxo