We observe Meat-Free Mondays at our house — not just observe, we celebrate Meat-Free Mondays. Meat-Free Monday is a campaign started by Paul McCartney and his daughters to get people to think about what they eat and the impact food has on our bodies and our environment. It’s not often Top Chef Night and Meat-Free Monday collide, but the stars aligned this week so we found Top Chef season 1 winner Harold Dieterle’s recipe for Edamame Falafel (click here for recipe).

The recipe is for four people so we cut it in half. Because it’s pretty quick and easy, I tackled the falafel while K took on the sauce. To start, I grabbed a bag of frozen organic edamame (soybeans) and boiled them in a little water for about two minutes. Then I put small batches into our tiny food chopper (*really* got to look into getting a food processor…) until everything was a big green mince.To that I added a little flour, some chopped shallot, the zest and juice of half a lemon, some chopped parsley and some minced chives. Then A LOT of salt and pepper because the mixture was a little bland.

Edamame Falafel Mixture -- Pre-Saute

Meanwhile, K was chopping and mixing up an egg yolk, some mustard, cilantro, garlic, lemon juice, tahini, some olive oil and water and a little Sriracha to spice things up. We heated up the oil in the saute pan (we didn’t deep fry these, just pan fried) and I attempted to make little falafel balls. Except they fell apart so we went with falafel patties. They fried up quickly, but also crumbled very, very easily. If we make these again we would definitely use an egg in the falafel to help hold everything together.

We served the falafel along with some lavash bread. They were nice and hot and crisp and had an interesting taste. The sauce is a must and had a variety of intriguing flavors. The bread was a little thin and the edges dried out, so in the future we’d use fluffy pita bread. A tasty and filling, quick, cheap and easy meat-free meal. While we didn’t oooh and aaahh over it, we did really like it and I think we’d make edamame falafel again. Especially on St. Patrick’s Day. It’s a great green dish.

As for Meat-Free Mondays, we’ll continue to enthusiastically support the cause by eating deliciously. Raising livestock conventionally (and even on a small scale) has multiple negative environmental impacts. Meat is expensive and a living being dies for your dinner. If every household celebrated Meat-Free Monday it would benefit the environment (and personal budgets) enormously. Give it a try and exercise your creative side. You’ll be surprised by the amazing and delectably satisfying dishes you can come up with using fruits, veggies and plant-based products!

Edamame Falafel. A Green and Delicious Meat-Free Monday Meal!

Alterations: We pan fried the falafel instead of deep frying. In the future, we’d add an egg to the falafel to help keep them from crumbling.
Soundtrack: The Suburbs. Because love *is* the law.
Would we make this again: Yes. It was quick and easy, cheap and filling.