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In addition to being healthy and nutritious, a vegan diet can also be delicious! Here are two ideas to help you prepare a wonderful vegan meal: quinoa pasta with pesto and wellness falafel wellness. The choice is yours.

Quinoa pasta with pesto

Ingredients for the pesto:

• 1 cup basil leaves
• 1 cup chopped courgette (pressed on a kitchen towel to drain excess water)
• 2 tbsp sunflower seeds
• 2 cloves garlic
• ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tsp fresh lemon juice
• ½ tsp salt
• Black pepper

 Ingredients for the pasta:

• 45 g raw quinoa pasta
• Lightly salted water for boiling

Recipe for the pesto:

• In a mixer, blend the basil, courgette, sunflower seeds, garlic and ¼ cup oil. Stir for 15 minutes.
• Add lemon juice, salt and black pepper and mix.
• Add the remaining ¼ εcup oil and mix until fully blended.

 To prepare the quinoa pasta:

• Follow the cooking instructions on the package, and boil the pasta al dente.
• Add the pasta to the pesto and garnish with sunflower seeds.

Wellness Falafel

Ingredients:

· 1,5 cup (300 g) dry chickpeas
· 1/2 cup (30 g) chopped parsley
· 1/2 cup (80 g) chopped white onion
· 7 cloves garlic (~ 21 g)
· 2 tbsp (12 g) flour 
· 1,5 tsp salt
· 1 tsp cumin (7 g)
· Fresh, ground cardamom 
· 1 tsp coriander
· Cayenne pepper (optional)

Recipe:

1) Rinse the chickpeas in a sieve and put them in a large saucepan. Cover them with water and boil at high temperature for 3-4 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside for an hour, with the lid on the pan. Rinse the chickpeas and dry them well.
2) Mix the parsley, onion and garlic in a blender and set aside.
3) When the chickpeas have cooled and dried, put them in the blender with the flour, salt, cumin, cardamom, coriander and cayenne pepper (optional). Mix well for 2-3 minutes until a paste is formed with very small pieces of chickpeas and herbs.
4) Cover the mixture and refrigerate for 1 hour.
5) When the mixture has cooled, mix in 1,5 tbsp flour and form small discs of the mixture with your hands. If the mixture is too runny, add some more flour. If it crumbles, you may need to mix it again.
6) Preheat the oven to 190^ο C.  
7) Place the falafel balls on a baking tray and press them lightly to create discs that are approximately 1,5cm thick.
8) Add some olive oil on each falafel ball.  
9) Bake for 25-30 minutes, turning the falafel over during the process. 
10) Remove from the oven when golden brown on both sides and dry to touch.