Ahhh… January.  I can just about make out the pounding of feet as everyone rushes to the gym or to slimming groups to atone for festive excesses or to Finally Get Thin.  I’m no exception, hence the brief silence while I’ve been wrestling with salad leaves and trying to work out how to factor baking treats into my new and improved diet.

To ensure that enthusiasm and motivation levels remain high, I’ve been trying out new recipes rather than just relying on old favourites.  And so, the latest addition to my healthy culinary arsenal are these fantastic sweet potato falafel wraps which are (a) good for you and (b) absolutely divine.  So divine that I’ve been raving about them ever since I made them!

Sweet potato falafels may sound a bit odd, and well… un-falafely, but they’re a really delicious alternative to the traditional fat-laden falafel.  Using gram (chickpea) flour to bind the mixture provides just the right amount of chickpea flavour to make your tastebuds say aaaah, yes, this is a falafel and the sweet potato ensures that the falafels stay moist after baking.  Genius, really.

The author of this genius is Allegra McEvedy, ex of the River Cafe and Robert Di Niro’s Tribeca Grill and current of Leon.  If you’ve never heard of Leon—hardly surprising if you’re not a Londoner—then let me enlighten you.  It’s a London-based chain of fast food restaurants which focus on healthy, yet yummy, food.  Simple as that.  But wait!  Before you wrinkle your nose… the food is big, bold and packed with flavour rather than being cardboard diet-fare.

I must admit that I’ve never eaten at Leon, but fully intend to the next time I’m in London.  I have, however, been cooking up a storm from the Leon cookbook ever since excerpted recipes appeared in the Guardian and they’ve all been fantastic.  It’s also a bloody good read—Allegra writes in a very warm and chummy way, so you feel as though you’re having a good old gossip about food with a friend as you read through it.  I should also mention that Leon is a book of two halves: an illustrated guide to ingredients with food-pairing tips as well as a recipe book.

But back to the falafels!  I stuffed a portion into a wrap along with plenty of Gem lettuce and some surprisingly sweet baby tomatoes, a generous spoonful of aïoli and a drizzle of sweet chilli sauce.  With an extra bowl of salad on the side—I couldn’t get as much into the wrap as I wanted—it made for a superb lunch which was heartily approved by the whole family.

Sweet Potato Falafel

Source: Leon, Ingredients and Recipes
Serves 4 (each serving is 4 falafels)
WW (UK) points per serving: 3.5

700g sweet potatoes
1  1/2 tsp ground cumin
2 small clove garlic, chopped
1 1/2 tsp ground coriander
1 smal bunch fresh coriander (about 30g), chopped
1/2 lemon, juice only
120g gram (chickpea) flour
1 pinch sesame seeds

Preheat the oven to 220C and roast the sweet potatoes whole until just tender (about 45 minutes – 1 hour).

Turn off the oven, leave the potatoes to cool, then peel.

Put the sweet potatoes, cumin, garlic, ground and fresh coriander, lemon juice and gram flour into a large bowl.

Season well and mash with your hands or a potato masher until you have a smooth mix with no large chunks.

Stick in the fridge to firm up for an hour, or the freezer for 20-30 minutes.

When you take it out your mix should be sticky rather than really wet and you can add a tablespoon or so more gram flour if necessary (sweet potatoes vary in water content enormously).

Heat the oven to 200C.

Using a couple of soup spoons (put a well-heaped spoonful of mix in one spoon and use the concave side of the other to shape the sides), or a falafel scoop if you have one, make the mixture into 16 small patties and put them on an oiled baking tray.  (To save calories, I lined a baking sheet with a teflon sheet.  Silpat is an even better alternative.)

Sprinkle sesame seeds on top and bake in the oven for approximately 15 minutes, until the bases are golden brown.  Cool slightly before stuffing into wraps with the accompniaments of your choice and devouring.