Whip Up Cafe-Worthy Organic Eats at Home with the Help of west~bourne

From the shores of LA to the cobbled streets of SoHo comes west~bourne, an all-day café taking a holistic approach to west-coast-meets-east-coast organic eats, all the while giving back to the community and upholding a high level of sustainability. Owner Camilla Marcus craved the clean, laidback nature of her hometown of Los Angeles in both flavors and atmosphere, and sought to package it up and bring it across the country to her new home of NYC. Named after the street she grew up on, west~bourne is the amalgamation of California-cool with the urban-ingenuity of New York City, boasting both an open-style kitchen and innovative elements that adhere to authenticity.Flavor is key, and every ingredient is hyperfocused on impact, quality, and texture. Think warm, comforting, clear approaches to classics like the below-mentioned lentil falafel, which merges nutritious, nourishing combinations of organic mushrooms, roasted broccoli, spices galore, and a decadent jalapeno cilantro tahini sauce to dip (and devour) generously. 

LENTIL FALAFEL INGREDIENTS

First set:

½ pound cooked lentils, pulsed½ pound roasted broccoli, pulsed⅓ pound sofrito (peppers, onions + garlic sauteed in olive oil until deeply caramelized)⅓ pound roasted button mushrooms, pulsed3 tablespoons west~bourne falafel spice seasoning

Second set:

1 egg, whiskedChickpea flourSalt, to tasteLemon juice, to taste

LENTIL FALAFEL ASSEMBLY

1 | Combine all ingredients in the first set by hand in a large mixing bowl. 2 | Add egg and mix thoroughly. If the mixture seems very wet (depends on how moist your individual ingredients are), add flour to help bind the ingredients together. 3 | Add a tablespoon of salt and the juice of 1 lemon. 4 | Cook a batch in a pan and adjust with more salt and lemon juice, if needed. 5 | Form the mixture into balls or patties, small or large. Eat them as you would a falafel or veggie burger. 

FALAFEL SPICE INGREDIENTS

First set:

4 tablespoons coriander seeds4 tablespoons fennel seeds2 tablespoons cumin seeds2 tablespoons caraway seeds

Second set:

4 tablespoons smoked paprika3 tablespoons dried oregano 2 tablespoons garlic powder2 tablespoons onion powder

FALAFEL SPICE ASSEMBLY

1 | Toast the first set in a pan or in the oven until aromatic. 2 | Use a spice grinder or blender to blend seeds into powder. 3 | Combine with set two spices. 

JALAPENO CILANTRO TAHINI SAUCE INGREDIENTS

2 bunches (about ½ pound) of cilantro, blanched and squeezed of moisture1 jalapeno, charred, seeded, and chopped1 cup tahini paste 1 cup water½ tablespoon salt½ cup lemon juice

JALAPENO CILANTRO TAHINI SAUCE ASSEMBLY

1 | Combine all the ingredients together in a blender and blend on high until smooth. Charlotte Farrell is a writer and editor who loves nothing more than a piping hot matcha latte and rambling on about topics to the tune of wellness, self-care, food, climate change, sustainability, clean beauty, fitness, mental health, and travel. She is based in NYC where she enjoys reading, writing, exploring, and hunting for gluten-free pastries.Photo credit: Nitzan Rubin.