Gluten and dairy free quinoa and sweet potato falafel with avocado dip

Quinoa is a staple in my house - I often eat it pre-workout to give me a boost of carbohydrates and protein, and it's a great gluten free alternative to couscous.

Although it looks like it, quinoa (pronounced keen-wa) is not a grain, it's a seed, and therefore it's a good source of protein if you're vegetarian or vegan.

One of my favourite brands of quinoa is Quinola - and they do these amazingly handy Express bags, which you simply microwave and eat, it's so quick and easy.

I wanted to come up with a recipe which could make a handy, gluten free lunch, and wondered if I could make some form of falafel with it.

This is traditionally made with chickpeas but I thought if I used sweet potato as a base I could add the quinoa and some yummy spices to make it into a tasty treat. Commence experimentation.

These were one of those dream recipes which turned out perfectly first time - I found a recipe on the Quinola website and thought this would be a good starting point, and I developed this with the ingredients I had to make these beauties!

I used the Quinola Whole Grain Express quinoa to make these, but they do an amazing range including Indian and Mexican-inspired packs, which I've used as a side to meals, and they are delicious - you can see their full range here.

I wanted some form of dip to have with these and decided on an avocado-based one. It's really creamy with a big of tang.

The falafel is vegetarian and vegan and if you wanted to make the sauce the same, you could substitute the Greek yoghurt for a dairy free alternative such as coconut yoghurt.

These can be eaten hot out of the oven or stored in the fridge and used in lunchboxes for a few days - try them in a hot pitta bread with the dip slathered on, or in a salad with pomegranate and feta for a tasty treat. I really hope you enjoy them!

Quinoa and sweet potato falafel recipe

Gluten free, dairy free, egg free, vegetarian and vegan

For the falafel:

1 cup Quniola wholegrain express

1 small red onion

1 garlic clove

250g sweet potato

¼ cup chickpea flour

1 tbsp tahini

1 tsp each turmeric, cumin and dried coriander

For the dip:

1 avocado

2 tbsp Fage 0% Total Greek yoghurt (use coconut yoghurt for dairy free/vegan)

2 tbsp sweet chilli sauce

Juice of 1 lemon

Pinch salt

1. Preheat the oven to 150'C.
2. Peel the sweet potato and chop into small cubes. Steam for 20 minutes until it is cooked through and soft enough to mash.
3. Peel the red onion and dice very finely. Peel the garlic and crush.
4. Mash the sweet potato and add to a mixing bowl with the quinoa, onion, garlic, spices, chickpea flour and tahini paste.
5. Mix thoroughly. Once combined, shape into 10, even-sized balls. You can keep them in balls or I flattened mine ever so slightly to create mini patties.
6. Place on a baking sheet and cook in the oven for around 20 minutes, until they have gone a golden colour.
7. Meanwhile, make the dip by placing the avocado flesh, Greek yoghurt, juice of one lemon, salt and sweet chilli sauce in a food processor and blending.
8. Serve and enjoy!

I'd love to know if you have any gluten free falafel recipes which are a little bit different! Please share them by commenting below or on my Facebook or Twitter pages. Thank you to Quinola for sending me some samples for my kitchen experimentation.

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