Don't Underestimate the Falafel

I am loving the food trucks in town this summer. It’s adding a whole new component to my love for all things food related in this wonderful foodie city.

Smack Shack has been a favorite for a while now (and I will blog about it as soon as I get some pics; taking pics is the last thing on my mind when I’m eating one of their lobster rolls).

And the Indian Spiced Mini Doughnuts at Chef Shack are a long-time favorite. Come to think of it, I think Chef Shack was my first foray into food trucks in Mpls.

Today, we braved the heat to try Foxy Falafel. I guess it’s not a food truck, per-se, but it’s portable food that’s shows up at various locations around town. Same thing.

Did you know that I was a falafel virgin until today? I had never had falafel. There aren’t many things hubby has had that I haven’t. But this was one of them. And it turns out I’ve been missing out.

I knew the basic premise: deep fried little balls of ground chickpeas. Sounds fairly simple, no?

But what I didn’t know was all of the things they could be topped with!

What also surprised me most was how fresh it all tasted. The falafel themselves were deep-fried obvi, but everything else around them was cool, bright, and fresh. And tasty.

I had the Beet Falafel, so there were beets ground up with my chickpeas that turned the inside a beautiful purple. It started with a pita pocket; in the bottom of it was a smear of hummus and a nest of pickled cabbage. Then came the falafel. And all of that was topped with fresh tomatoes and cukes, and a creamy goat cheese sauce. Oh, and there was faint preserved lemon somewhere in the lovely thing. And THEN you are encouraged to top the whole thing with all sorts of homemade pickles: radishes, garlic scapes, cauliflower. I rather loved that.

Zach had the straight-up Foxy Falafel they serve. He was lucky enough to start with a clean enough slate that he could pick from the three sauces they had. There was a cucumber yogurt one that was calling my name. However, I was encouraged to not add to my already sophisticated flavors, and I listened.

Open just on the weekends. You can get the falafels at Kingsfield Farmers Market Sundays, and at the Fulton Farmers Market a few Saturdays this summer (including this upcoming Saturday!).

I give Foxy Falafel a thumbs up for being one of the only things one could stand to eat outside today when it was almost 100 degrees.

I also give them kudos for their pedal-powered smoothie bike! To peddle away to make someone a fresh smoothie, particularly when it’s 100 degrees out, is true love. Will be trying one of those next time.