Name: Big Baked Falafel Cake With Cucumber Salad
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients: 1 large red onion; 3 Tbsp. plus 1 tsp. fresh lemon juice; ¼ tsp. sugar; 1½ tsp. Diamond Crystal or 1 tsp. Morton kosher salt, plus more; ¾ cup (packed) cilantro leaves, divided; ¾ cup (packed) parsley leaves, divided; 2 Tbsp. cornstarch or potato starch; 1 tsp. ground cumin; ½ tsp. baking powder; ½ tsp. ground coriander; ¼ tsp. cayenne; Freshly ground black pepper; 2 garlic cloves, finely grated; 1 large egg, beaten; 2 15.5-oz. cans chickpeas, rinsed; 2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling; 1 cup plain whole-milk yogurt; 3 Persian cucumbers, thinly sliced; 2 radishes, trimmed, thinly sliced

Image may contain Food Dish Meal Plant Bread Lunch and Seasoning

Photograph by Isa Zapata. Food Styling by Susan Ottaviano. Prop Styling by Maeve Sheridan and Molly Longwell

This large-format, weeknight-friendly take on falafel starts with canned chickpeas, instead of dried, and calls for baking instead of frying. Packed with herbs and a few heavy-hitting spices, the golden brown savory cake is first crisped in a skillet for optimal craggy edges, then finished in the oven until cooked through. To make it a meal, pair a wedge with a simple salad of cucumber, radishes, and quick-pickled red onion.

What you’ll need

Citrus Juicer
$20 $17 At Amazon
Cast Iron Skillet
$40 $35 At Amazon
Whisk
$14 At Amazon
Microplane Grater
$18 At Amazon

Recipe notes

Green Falafel Smash Burgers

Herby chickpea falafel gets the veggie burger treatment with harissa mayo and pickled onion.

Sheet-Pan Chicken Souvlaki

Tender, juicy chicken skewers are possible in the oven—especially when roasted alongside spiced chickpeas and finished with fresh tomatoes and salty feta.

Green Beans With Tahini Sbagliato

An accidental recipe (sbagliatio means mistaken in Italian) yields a delicious herby tahini dressing that is excellent poured over lightly blanched green beans.

Turkish-Style Eggs and Tomatoes

This riff on çılbır marries garlicky yogurt, fried eggs, and spiced butter with summer tomatoes.

Shrimp and Pea Pancake

Inspired by Korean pajeon, this shrimp-studded pancake features fresh snap peas as a spring-y addition.

Minty Chicken Meatballs

Who says ground chicken is boring? Two whole bunches of mint and some aromatics give these chicken meatballs their bracingly herby flavor.

Green Pasta e Fagioli

This riff on the Italian classic comfort food gets its verdant color from kale two ways: blended into the base, and wilted among the pasts and white beans.

Cod With Chorizo, Greens, and Chickpeas

In this one-pan dinner, flaky cod is finished in a chorizo-spiked sauce, alongside wilty greens and chickpeas—some tender, some crispy.