Middle Eastern must-trys: Falafels, Israeli salad and more

Try your hand at classic vegetarian dishes and desserts

Video: Celeb chef’s quick and easy falafel recipe

Closed captioning of: Celeb chef’s quick and easy falafel recipe

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take you in today's kitchen with a very popular middle eastern treat. falafel balls.

>> your favorite, of course.

>> here to show us how it's done is none other than the sheraton universal hotel executive chef, reza .

>> hello, reza . you are making filafel balls.

>> very, very easy. can i move --

>> yes.

>> all you do is take the chickpea flour . mix all the dry ingredients, which is salt, pepper, baking soda, chilli pepper , garlic, and coriander.

>> all of it in.

>> down the hatch.

>> mix it up a little bit.

>> okay.

>> mix everything together.

>> okay.

>> disappears in there. okay.

>> then we have cilantro.

>> i love cilantro in everything. me and reza are the same.

>> then italian parsley.

>> i love that. that makes me and reza like the same.

>> we're twinsies.

>> i don't like those.

>> put them in any way. reza , put them in.

>> it's good for you.

>> i like them.

>> mix everything together like that. very quickly. all right? all right?

>> okay. snoo then you add some water.

>> why?

>> one cup.

>> for the taste.

>> you don't add water, it won't come together.

>> it will not come together, hoda.

>> that's what i said.

>> once you mix it up, you'll shake like that. kind of like this. then what i do, i take a scoop and scoop it and put them in a hot pan.

>> thus, the balls.

>> just be careful. i don't want to --

>> now, what kind of oil are we cooking in, reza ?

>> extra virgin olive oil . everything.

>> balls are in extra virgin olive.

>> extra virgin . ob.

>> okay.

>> once this is done -- this is the final --

>> how long do you cook these?

>> about two to three minutes on each side.

>> okay.

>> this is really the final product.

>> they look good.

>> filafel.

>> you try one.

>> of course, you do. have a ball.

>> okay. then what i do is just to finish it off what i do just to finish it off, i take some israeli salad and some real asparagus, put them on a plate and finish it off with baby arugula. drizzle olive oil .

>> more.

>> extra virgin olive oil . there you go. squeeze of lemon.

>> all right.

>> now, here --

>> baby arugula. there you go. but it right there.

>> we'll have to say good-bye. we love you.

Show transcript

TODAY recipes

updated 2/20/2013 3:26:42 PM ET

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Reza Motamednia, executive chef at the Sheraton Universal Hotel in Universal City, Calif., crafts falafels and Israeli salad on TODAY. His Middle Eastern dishes, finished off with a sweet strawberry shortcake, are musts for any vegetarian.

Recipe: Falafels (on this page) Recipe: Israeli chopped salad (on this page) Recipe: Strawberry shortcake (on this page)

Recipe: Falafels

Reza Motamednia

Ingredients

2 cups chickpea flour
2 teaspoons baking power
1 small onion, coarsely chopped
1 tablespoon garlic, chopped
1 cup fresh Italian parsley, coarsely chopped
1 cup fresh cilantro, coarsely chopped
1 tablespoon cumin powder
1 tablespoon coriander powder
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
Salt and ground pepper to taste
3/4 cup cold water
Olive oil for frying

Preparation

Combine all of the ingredients in a large bowl. Refrigerate for about 15 minutes. Roll the falafel mixture into a ping-pong-ball size. Pour 1/4 inches of olive oil in a large pan. Heat the olive oil. Carefully slip a few falafels at a time into the hot oil. Fry until falafels are crusty and dark brown on all sides. Remove the falafels with a slotted spoon and drain on a platter lined with paper towels.

Serve with garlic asparagus, baby arugula leaves lightly coated with olive oil and lemon juice and Israeli chopped salad.

Serving Size

Make 24 falafels

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Recipe: Israeli chopped salad

Reza Motamednia

Ingredients

2 large hothouse tomatoes, cubed
1 large English cucumber, cubed
1/2 medium red onion, cubed
1/2 cup olives, coarsely chopped
4 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
1 to 2 lemons, juiced
3 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation

Toss everything together in a large bowl and serve.

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Recipe: Strawberry shortcake

Reza Motamednia

Ingredients

4 eggs
2 cups sugar
1 cup of milk
1/2 cup butter
2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 pint fresh strawberries, quartered
2 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons Grand Marnier
Whipped cream

Preparation

In a saucepan, bring milk and butter to boil. Remove from heat and cool. Sift flour, salt and baking power together. In a large bowl, mix cream, eggs and sugar until thick and creamy. Slowly add dry ingredients to egg mixture and beat on low speed. Add milk mixture and beat on medium speed for 2 minutes. Pour into a greased and floured cake pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes in a cake pan.

Macerate strawberries with sugar and Grand Marnier. Let stand for 10 minutes. Top the cake with macerated strawberries and whipped cream.

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