The snow is lovely, the air is crisp, very crisp and carrots have replaced the fresh, local leafy green vegetables that fill my fridge in the warmer months. The golden glow of the fire in the woodstove matched the warm orange of the carrot soup and carrot falafel that I made last week.

The Moors brought carrots, cousin of both Queen Anne’s lace and parsnips, to Europe from Asia in the 10^th century. With more natural sugar than any other vegetable except beets, carrots are rich in carotene, which improves night vision, and are renowned as an anti-wrinkle agent.

According to some food historians, carrots originated in Afghanistan, which was enough of a reason to make falafel with carrots as the primary ingredient. Tahini sauce added a taste of the Middle East to our dinner. Here’s how I did it:

Carrot Falafel

• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 2 cups carrots, coarsely grated – divided
• 1 Tablespoon water
• 1 19-ounce can of chickpeas, rinsed and drained
• 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• pinch of cayenne pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 cup breadcrumbs
• 2 Tablespoons olive oil

 Tahini Sauce

• 2 Tablespoons tahini, (sesame seed paste)
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• water

I sauteed the onion in the butter over medium heat until it was soft and beginning to brown. While the onions cooked, I zapped one cup of the carrots with a tablespoon of water in the microwave until the carrots were soft; it took three minutes in my microwave.

I drained the cooked carrots and put them, along with the chickpeas, lemon juice, cumin, cayenne pepper, and salt into a food processor and pulsed the machine. When the chickpeas were coarsely chopped, I combined the chickpea mixture with the remaining cup of raw carrots and the cooked onions. I formed heaping tablespoonfuls of the mixture into patties and rolled them in breadcrumbs. I heated a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in a nonstick skillet over medium heat and cooked the patties in batches until golden brown, about four minutes on each side. I served these carrot falafel with a simple sauce made by combining the tahini with the lemon juice and enough water to make a sauce with the consistency of mayonnaise.

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