Middle Eastern Garbanzo Rice Pilaf
My Middle Eastern rice pilaf combines the flavors of sundried tomatoes and fresh mint with healthy, protein-filled chickpeas and brown rice.
You can vary the ingredients based on what you have in your fridge, and you can also serve this different ways - as a side dish, a main meal, a wrap, or even as a sandwich spread.
Prep time: 20 min; Total time: 25 min or overnight
Ingredients
Rice and Garbanzos (Chickpeas):
- 1/2 c. brown rice, basmati rice, or brown basmati rice
- 1 c. dried chickpeas (or 1 can)
Sundried Tomato & Fresh Mint Paste:
- 1 c. parsley
- 1/2 c. fresh mint
- 2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2. sundried tomatoes (if you use ones preserved in oil, decrease olive oil)
- 2-4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/4 c. pine nuts (optional)
- Salt, to taste
Optional:
- Kalamata olives
- Goat cheese or feta cheese
- Capers
- Lemon juice
Rice and garbanzos:
If you want to use dried garbanzos, soak them overnight. Discard the soak water. If you use canned
garbanzos, rinse them and drain them.
Using a pressure cooker, cook rice and chickpeas with water for 20 minutes. If you cook them in a saucepan instead, you'll need to cook them longer (around 40 minutes).
Sundried Tomato & Fresh Mint Paste:
If sundried tomatoes are not preserved in oil,
reconstitute them for a minute in warm water. Then mix all seasonings in a food processor or
blender and grind them until they form a thick paste. Transfer to a cast iron pan and saute until
it smells delicious. (If you don't cook the rice and chickpeas in a pressure cooker, you can just
toss this stuff in with the rice and chickpeas to cook it instead of cooking it in a separate pan)
The Big Finish:
Combine rice, chickpeas and sundried tomato and fresh mint paste together and
mix well. If you wish to add capers, kalamata olives, lemon juice, or cheese, mix that in too.
Enjoy!
Makes about 6 cups.
Tips
If you don't have garbanzos in your house, don't worry. They taste great in this but it will taste
great with just rice. Just be sure to double the amount of rice you use if you do this.
For extra protein, add some seitan. Cut seitan into small pieces (1/2 in. cubes) and saute in a cast iron pan with paprika, cumin, and pepper until cooked through. Then add it to your dish!
Make extra of the sundried tomato and fresh mint paste and store it in your fridge or freezer. Use it as a spread on sandwiches.
If you want, skip the rice altogether and make a delicious wrap. Make the sundried tomato and fresh mint paste. Use the paste as a spread on a whole wheat tortilla or pita bread. Toss in some cucumbers, tomato, seitan, or spinach if you want.
Another idea is to make the sundried tomato and mint paste and use it in place of tomato sauce on a pizza. Use a ready-made pizza crust or make your own and spread the paste on top of it. Top with seitan, tomatoes, grilled veggies, olives, and cheese if you eat it (mozzerella and/or feta or goat cheese).
Turn this dish into a pasta. Instead of chickpeas and rice, make fettuccine, farfalle (bowties), or penne pasta. Combine with seitan and sundried tomato paste and serve with fresh parsley as a garnish.
If you don't have rice on hand, substitute cous cous, orzo, cracked wheat, or bulgur. Likewise, if you don't have garbanzos, try substituting black beans, cannellini beans, or kidney beans instead.
Use this dish as a filling in stuffed tomatoes, stuffed peppers, or stuffed portobello mushrooms.
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