Falafel-Spiced Cucumber Bites

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These cucumber bites are a healthy party appetizer recipe with major Middle Eastern flair! They’re quick & easy to assemble and make a great addition to any dinner or cocktail party. These would also be perfect for game day appetizer spreads!

‘Tis the season for lots of holiday parties and indulgences.

And while I love to make (and eat!) decadent dinner party food and desserts (helloooooo epic holiday cookie list), I also enjoy having lighter party fare.

 I’ve always been a fan of crudité platters (shoutout to Gustavo Fring!), but while I could go.to.town on that alone, not everyone wants a pile of veggies nestled up against a bowl of Ranch dip.

So let’s elevate the veggie presentation, shall we?

I have a mild obsession with falafel. Standard Falafel with Yogurt-Herb Sauce, Falafel-Spiced Chickpea Flatbreads, Falafel-Spiced Chickpea Salad with Tahini-Lemon Vinaigrette… If I can falaf-ify it, I will!

I also have a not-so-mild obsession with making up words. Just roll with me here…

This time around, I figured I’d combine all of my favorite falafel flavors into a simple, elegant appetizer.

And what better vessel for delivering this gorgeousness to your mouth than on top of a crisp, cool cucumber slice?

These may look complicated, but make no mistake – all you’re doing is throwing some ingredients into your food processor and puréeing them until smooth. You can then scoop or pipe the filling on top of the aforementioned cucumber slices, garnish (or not!), and you’re good to go!

The falafel purée here is made extra creamy by the addition of one of my favorite refrigerator staples: Stonyfield Double Cream.

I’ve talked about double cream before – it’s even thicker and richer than the whole milk Greek yogurt and not quite as tangy. This makes it a perfect whole milk, full fat substitution for sour cream and oils in cooking and baking.

And all that creaminess makes the chickpea purée that tops these cucumber bites niiiiiice and smooth.

If you find your purée is a little too thick, go ahead and add another tablespoon of the double cream. And make sure you run the food processor till it’s super smooth.

I didn’t run it quite long enough at first and I got a little bit of chickpea clogging the tip of my decorating bottle, so I put it back into the food processor and let it go for another 20 seconds. It was a quick fix!

If you don’t have a decorating bottle, you can use a metal scoop or a spoon to mound the filling on top, or you can put it into a large zip-top plastic bag, snip off the corner, and pipe it that way.

Heck, you could even just put it in a bowl and serve thepurée as a dip with cucumber sticks or slices on the side, along with some other fresh veggies. Totally up to you!

I made these to bring to my friend’s house for a gift wrapping party last week, and they were a HUGE hit! I was able to put them together in just a few minutes before the party started, which makes this an awesome last minute party appetizer recipe.

You could even make the purée ahead of time if you wanted and just store it in the fridge until you’re ready to serve. Then all you need to do is slice up your cucumber, pipe or scoop a little chickpea purée on top, and garnish away!

I chopped up twice as many herbs as I needed for the filling so I’d have extra for sprinkling, but it’s not necessary. I like sliced tomato and red onion stuffed into pita bread with my falafel, so I added a little of that on top, too. Not everyone loves raw red onion as much as I do, so I opted for thinly sliced shallots, which have a milder flavor.

I also kind of “deviled” them by adding a sprinkling of paprika on top of each one. It’s an ingredient that went into the chickpea purée, so I already had the container out. Plus it added a nice pop of color to the tops of these bit-sized apps.

Last but not least, I added a drizzle of Sriracha to the tops of my cucumber bites. I only did it to half of them, since I figured the kids (and some adults) wouldn’t want that spicy heat at the end.

These cucumber bites disappeared pretty quickly at the party! The kids were all excited to try them (even the picky eaters!), and some of them even braved the Sriracha-drizzled ones AND LOVED THEM!

Success!

Again, these look fancy but they don’t take a lot of work! And you can omit the garnishes or just reserve a bit of the herbs and sprinkle them on at the end for a bit of panache.

I loved how quickly these came together, and how crisp and refreshing the flavor was. Not only were they delicious, I felt good about the ingredients that I used to make them.

The next time you’re looking for appetizer ideas, I hope you’ll give these falafel-spiced cucumber bites a try.

What are your favorite party food recipes? I’d love to hear about them in the comments section below!

And stay tuned later this week for a roundup of healthy cocktail party recipe options – just in time for your New Year’s and game day celebrations!

Looking for more bite-sized favorites? Check out these 5-star recipes:

• French-Inspired Deviled Eggs
• Patatas Bravas with Chipotle Aioli
• Killer Shrimp Cocktail
• Cheesy Bacon + Apple Croissants
• Tuna Tostada with Avocado Dressing + Chipotle Sour Cream
• Marcona Almond + Dried Cherry Popcorn with Crispy Rosemary
• Veggie Cream Cheese Roll-ups
• No Mayo Deviled Eggs
• Mini Turkey Pot Pies with Puff Pastry

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