Cauliflower Falafels on Home Made Pita Bread with Tzatziki Sauce

Cauliflower Falafels

To cook the quinoa: Rinse the quinoa in a fine mesh colander, then combine with 1 1/4 cup water in a small saucepan. Bring the mixture to boil, then cover and reduce heat to maintain a gentle simmer. Simmer for 15 minutes, then remove from heat and let the quinoa steam with the lid on for 5 minutes. Then drain off any excess water and set aside to cool.
To prepare the cauliflower: Transfer the cauliflower florets to the bowl of your food processor. Pulse until they resemble a couscous-like texture, about 15 pulses. Pour the mixture into a large mixing bowl or the bowl of your stand mixer. Keep the food processor bowl handy because you’ll use it again soon.
To the mixing bowl, add your cooked quinoa, chickpeas, green onion, cilantro, parsley, garlic, olive oil, cumin, salt, cinnamon, egg and Sriracha. Stir to combine. Use a potato masher or the paddle attachment of your mixer to mix really well. You need to mash up those chickpeas so the burgers hold together.
Grind the oats: Use a food processor or blender to grind the oats until the flakes are broken up, but not as fine as flour.
Mix in the oats: Sprinkle the ground oats over the mixture and mix well with a big spoon until the mixture holds together when you shape a portion into a patty. If the mixture is still too dry to shape into patties, mash it until it does. If you have time, cover and refrigerate the mixture for best results (the patties will hold together better during cooking if they are chilled first).
Shape the burgers: Use a measuring cup to measure out ½ cup of the mixture. Gently shape it into a patty about 3 ½ inches in diameter. Use your hands to gently flatten the burgers and smooth out any jagged edges. Repeat the process for each patty; you should end up with seven.
Pan fry the burgers: Heat 1 ½ tablespoons oil in a large cast iron or non-stick skillet over medium heat. When it’s hot, place several burgers in the pan, leaving enough room to flip them. Cover and cook until the patties are golden brown on the underside, about 3 to 4 minutes, then flip. 

Tzatziki Sauce

Place all ingredients in bowl and mix well. 

Pita Bread

Directions

Place yeast into the work bowl of a stand mixer and add 2 cup warm water and 2 cup flour. Whisk together and let stand 15 to 20 minutes for mixture to rise and make a loose sponge. Mixture will bubble and foam.
Pour 3 tablespoons olive oil and salt into sponge; add 2 cup flour. Mix at low speed, using a dough hook attachment, until dough is soft, supple, and slightly sticky. If dough sticks to the sides of the bowl, add up to 1/4 cup more flour, a little at a time.
Knead dough with machine on low speed until slightly springy and still soft, 5 to 6 minutes. Turn dough out onto a floured work surface and form into a ball.
Wipe inside of bowl with 1/4 teaspoon olive oil. Turn dough around in bowl to cover with a thin film of oil; cover bowl with foil and let sit until dough has doubled in size, about 2 hours.
Remove dough from bowl and place onto a floured work surface. Lightly pat into a flat shape about 1 inch thick. Use a knife to cut dough into 8 pieces.
Form each piece into a small round ball with a smooth top, pulling dough from the sides and tucking the ends underneath the bottom.
Cover dough balls with lightly oiled plastic wrap and let rest for 30 minutes.
Sprinkle a small amount of flour on a work surface and top of a dough ball; gently pat dough ball flat with your fingers, forming a flat, round bread about 1/4 inch thick. Let dough round rest for 5 minutes. Repeat with remaining dough balls.

Brush a cast-iron skillet with olive oil and place over medium-high heat. Lay pita bread into hot skillet and cook until bread begins to puff up and bottom has brown spots and blisters, about 3 minutes. Flip, cook 2 more minutes, and flip back onto original side to cook for about 30 more seconds.