Welcome to 2017! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and new year. Mine was lovely, though very busy, and it left little time for posting – apologies! I hope to make up for it a little with this, though – a gorgeous recipe for bright, herby broad bean falafels and a vibrant, crunchy winter slaw.

This meal is so fresh and moreish, and is packed with flavour. It works well as a lighter evening meal, but I love it most with hummus as a lunch. The falafel freeze really well, and if you make everything in bulk at the weekend it will keep you stocked for packed lunches most of the week.

Ingredients:
For the falafel (makes about 20):
– 300g tin broad beans, drained
– 200g tin chickpeas, drained
– 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
– 4 spring onions, finely chopped
– 1 tsp ground cumin
– ½ tsp grated nutmeg
–  ½ tsp baking powder
– zest of 1 lemon
– handful fresh parsley, roughly chopped
– handful fresh coriander, roughly chopped
– 50g sesame seeds (I used a mixture of black and white)

For the slaw:
– 1 red onion
– 4 radishes
– ½ red cabbage
– 1 carrot, peeled
– 1 conference pear, cored
– 1 apple (I used cox), cored
– ½ celeriac, peeled
– 50g walnuts, roughly chopped
– juice of ½ lemon
– 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
– 2 tbsp olive oil
– 1 tsp dijon mustard
– 1 tbsp tahini
– handful fresh parsley

1. Begin by making the falafel. Whizz the broad beans and chickpeas in a food processor until almost smooth. Add the rest of the ingredients apart from the sesame seeds, along with some salt and pepper. Whizz to combine, then transfer to the fridge to chill for at least 30 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, make the slaw. Finely slice the red onion, radishes and red cabbage and place in a large bowl. Grate the carrot, pear, apple and celeriac, then add to the bowl with the cabbage, along with the walnuts.

3. To make the dressing for the slaw, whisk together the lemon juice, vinegar, olive oil, mustard and tahini with a little salt and pepper. Stir in the parsley, then drizzle the dressing over the slaw and toss to coat.

4. Divide the chilled falafel mixture into small pieces, then roll into balls – they should be about the size of a golf ball. Flatten slightly and roll in the sesame seeds.

5. On a medium heat, heat 5cm vegetable oil in a deep pan, until a sesame seed dropped into the oil sizzles immediately. Fry the falafel in small batches until golden, then drain on kitchen towel. Serve with the slaw and a big dollop of hummus.