Crispy Falafel

Put the lentils and brown rice into a small saucepan over high heat along with 8 cups of water and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Bring to a boil. Cook until the rice begins to soak up some of the water, about 20 to 25 minutes. The rice and lentils will still have a crunch to them, but will be starting to soften. Strain them and shake off the excess water.

Peel and halve the shallots and add to the work bowl along with the garlic, nutritional yeast, juice from 1 lemon, cumin, coriander, baking powder, red pepper flakes, and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Rinse and chop the parsley leaves away from the stems. Add half of the leaves to the work bowl. Add the lentils and rice with 2 tablespoons of oil. Pulse until an even consistency is reached.

Put a large skillet over medium-high heat and add 2 tablespoons of oil. While the oil is heating up, form the falafel mixture into 12 even patties. Put them into the skillet and cook until golden brown on the bottom, about 4 to 6 minutes. Flip and repeat. You may have to do this in 2 batches.

Rinse and chop the cucumbers into bite-sized pieces. Rinse and halve the tomatoes. Put the tomatoes and cucumbers into a medium bowl with the remaining parsley leaves and squeeze the remaining lemon over them. Drizzle with 2 teaspoons of oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Rinse the dill, then remove the fronds from the stems and chop them. In a medium bowl, mix the chopped dill fronds into the vegan sour cream and season with salt to taste.

Put the salad on a plate and lay 3 of the falafel patties on the side. Serve with the dill vegan sour cream and cucumber and tomato salad.