Not You Average (much better) Hummus and Falafel Picnic Bagel

The name says it all. Definitely not your average bagel. This is something so much better, I promise. Recipe 2 of the picnic series, and it only is getting better, although it is hard to top the beluga lentil salad an curry hummus stuffed pita. Yet, we managed to do so. Slightly sweet and crispy bagel with creamy hummus, fresh greens and radishes, crunchy falafel and soft and salty avocado. Oh my. If I were you, I would be running to the store right now.

Bagels are just amazing by themselves already. We really need to take a moment and thank the inventor of thebagel (who by the way was Austrian!!!) for this amazing creation. Invented by accident, probably the best accident ever, and now a staple around the world. And really, cream cheese and salmon bagels are amazing, no need to doubt that, yet there are so many other combos that just taste unreal in a bagel, which you need to try out – just like this one!

Where to get good bagels?

This is really important, because if the bagel itself does not taste amazing, the entire dish only tastes half as good. So, in Vienna there are 2 places I love to get my bagels from. The first one is Budapäst Bagels – they have been the (much deserved) restaurant of the month in march and definitely have amazing bagels. You can just grab some plain bagels there and fill them at home! The other place that never lets you down is Joseph Brot. They have several shops in Vienna, so you can just choose one that is close to you. The only disadvantage here – they are sold out so quickly always! So you got to get up early for your bagels.

What’s special about this dish?

It is a mix of the traditional bagel and a falafel pita or sandwich and an avo toast. So, really the best of everything combined! Instead of spreading a bagel with cream cheese, we are spreading it with hummus. And filling it with falafel. Yep, it gets quite thick and tastes amazing. Plus, we have some springy goodness with the fresh veggies and sprouts. This bagel combo really is (not exaggerating here) life changing.

Plus, also this recipe is part of the NENI x Une Petite Cuisinière picnic series! Which means, you can use the (super delicious) Neni am Tisch products to make this. In other words, you get some healthy deliciousness in no time.

Is this dish healthy?

We got to be honest, it probably it not the most nutrient dense dish ever. It though, also is not unhealthy. The thing is that most of the time bagels themselves are not highly nutritious. To achieve their slightly sweet flavour, there often is sugar in them and they rarely are made with whole-wheat products. They do provide you with a bunch of carbs though, yet not many complex ones and not much fibre.

Nevertheless the fillings are nutritious. We have a lot of chickpeas in here – in form of hummus and in form of falafel. Chickpeas are high in protein and fibre and therefore a great plant-based food. Plus, we have some greens & radishes, meaning more vitamins and some avocado for healthy fats and deliciousness (what even is a bagel without avocado?).

How to make this dish?

This probably is one of the easiest things you’ve ever made. All you need to do is pop the falafel into the oven (this is no must, popping them into the oven just really lets them crisp up again and makes them taste much better). In the meantime we are toasting the bagel, slicing the radishes and cutting the avo.

When falafel and bagel are done, we spread some of the (best) Hummus onto the lower half of the bagel, add the falafel, the radishes, some cress or sprouts and top it with the avo. Now we got to sprinkle it with some sea salt, close it with the top and take it onto our picnic. A perfect dish for a perfect picnic!

What about meal prep and picnic?

Obviously the bagel won’t be crispy anymore when it has been stored in the fridge or in a container to be taken onto a picnic, nevertheless, it still is as delicious! If you just leave it like that, it will be a bit of a mess to eat though. To avoid that, it is best if you cut it in half and then take some parchment paper, cut a strip off it, wrap it around the bagel-half and then fix it with a string. That way everything holds together and you can eat without everything falling apart.

If you wanted to bagel to be a bit more crispy, you could also toast it beforehand and bake the falafel, then put both into a bag (not air tight!!) and take the avocado, sprouts, radishes and hummus in a separate container and fill the bagel at your picnic spot! This makes it all a bit fresher!

Regardless or which way you choose to take you bagel to the picnic, it’ll be delicious and I hope that you will also find it to be delicious and enjoy it!

Have a wonderful picnic,
Love,
Katie