Punch your taste buds in the face with Buffalo Falafel Balls!

Do taste buds have faces? No. However, they will be dancing with joy from the flavor and heat of this radical dish! I found this recipe on a website called http://thugkitchen.com/. A friend of mine, and fellow vegan, directed me to this absolutely hilarious site. The recipes all look fantastic, but it's the commentary that gets me every time. (SIDE NOTE: If you are easily offended by "harsh" language, I suggest you find another recipe site.) As for me, I can't help but laugh when a recipe calls for me to, "mash that s#*t up."

This was a CRAZY easy recipe to make and the results were fantastic. There was so much flavor going on and it kept me full for the rest of the evening. I wanted a little something on the side so I decided to heat up some edamame with a sprinkle of salt on top. I also served the falafel on a slice of bread with some lettuce and carrots. I know not everyone likes hot stuff, but what's nice about this recipe is that you can use whatever kind of hot sauce you want to for your base. If you want something more mild, go for it. If you're like me and you want your lips and tongue tingling for an hour after eating, do it! Without further ado, I give you Buffalo Falafel Balls courtesy of the Thug Kitchen.

FALAFEL:
1/3 pound of cauliflower
1 15oz. can of chickpeas (garbanzo beans) - rinsed
1/4 cup of diced onion (I used yellow)
2 cloves of garlic - minced
1 tsp of olive oil
1/2 tsp of all seasoning blend
2 tablespoons of breadcrumbs

Cover a baking pan with aluminium foil, spray with Pam, and preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Take your cauliflower, dice it up into smaller pieces, and then put it in your food processor. Pulse the cauliflower until it looks like rice.

Drain and rinse your can of chickpeas, pour them in a medium mixing bowl, and mash them up into a paste. I used a potato masher and that seemed to work really well and fast. (I considered just putting them into the food processor with the other ingredients but I was afraid I would have made it too thin, so I just went along with the Thug Kitchen way.)

Dice your onion and garlic into small pieces. (I used the minced garlic in a jar so I skipped that step.) Add the onion, garlic, olive oil, seasoning, breadcrumbs, and cauliflower to the chickpea paste and mix it all together.

Once everything is mixed, you can begin making them into balls. (If your mixture is still a little dry, just add some water. I didn't have any issues though.) You want to make them a little bigger than a ping pong ball. By doing so, you should end up with 12 or 13.

Put them on the baking pan and put them in the oven for 20 to 25 minutes, making sure to flip them over half way through.

While those are baking, you can start making the sauce.

SAUCE:
2 tablespoons of olive oil
2 tablespoons of flour (I used whole wheat)
1 cup of your favorite hot sauce (I used Frank's - not my all time favorite but in my top 5)
1/4 cup of water
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

Take a sauce pan and set it on medium low heat. Pour in your 2 tablespoons of olive oil and flour. Mix this together until the flour turns a light brown color and starts to smell like it's toasted. (You'll want to see a few bubbles forming to know when it's hot.)

Add half of the hot sauce and stir it up until it's mixed. Then add your water, vinegar, and the remaining hot sauce. Stir until heated throughout and then remove from heat.

When the falafel are done baking and are to your liking, push them all to the center and pour 3/4 of the sauce over the falafel balls. Put them back in the oven for an additional 5 minutes so they absorb the sauce. When they're done, take them out and pour the remaining sauce over them.

Voila! You have a phenomenal dish that will kick your taste buds in the booty! I hope you all dig this as much as I did!

Be kind and enjoy the day, friends!

-Bearded Vegan