A Veggie, Rice and Chickpea Love Affair

[potatolicious]

Corny name, I know, but I modified this recipe from VegWeb: http://vegweb.com/index.php?topic=22064.0


A Veggie, Rice and Chickpea Love Affair

PAN 1
1 each yellow pepper, orange and red pepper
1 broccoli (crown only) cut into small florets
1 teaspoon basil
2 1/2 tablespoons maple syrup
3 tablespoons water
PAN 2
2 cups chickpeas
3 cups brown rice (cooked)
4 cloves garlic
1 teaspoon oregano
1cup water
3 -4 tablespoons lemon juice
salt & pepper to taste


Directions:

PAN 1
Chop all veggies into small pieces, add to pan.
In a measuring cup, add basil, maple syrup, and water. Mix then add to veggies.
Cook covered on medium low heat until veggies reach your desired tenderness.

PAN 2
Put chickpeas and rice in pan.
In a measuring cup, add garlic, water, lemon juice, oregano, pepper and salt. Mix then add to rice/bean mix.
Bring to a simmer. Allow to simmer until the majority of liquid is gone.

Add the bean/rice mixture to veggies.

It was delicious. Because of its lighter flavor, it's a nice change from more heavily spiced dishes. I think it would be great in the summer.

Enjoy!

[LauraA]

OK, this looks really good! I'm going to try in this week! Thanks, LauraA

[LauraA]

That looks like a lot of maple syrup! Did you like it? Could you have used less or tried a little brown sugar? Just wondering. Take care, LauraA

[Letha]

Sounds good. I’ll bet the lemon/maple give it a bit of a sweet/sour thing. I like spicy but sometimes I try to inflict my cooking on less adventurous souls who prefer simple seasonings.
Letha

[potatolicious]

LauraA, the taste was subtle and delicate, not strong like a Chinese sweet & sour sauce. The maple syrup just took the edge off the lemon juice. I think you could decrease the maple syrup to taste more lemon, or use the larger amount of lemon juice (I used 3 of fresh lemon juice, and would have preferred 4. OTOH, if I had used bottled lemon juice, 3 would have been fine.) By the time you add the broccoli and peppers, this makes 4 generous servings - it really didn't taste very sweet to me. I also think you could sub brown sugar, honey or agave for the maple syrup.

I also enjoyed it cold the next day for lunch over lightly dressed romaine - kind of like a pasta salad, but with rice.

Hope you enjoy it!

[Letha]

This was very good. I’ve tried a couple of recipes in recent months with lemon or lime on hot cooked rice and found it surprisingly tasty. I also enjoyed chopping up all those pretty peppers. The next time I make this I plan to simplify the recipe a bit. I’ll put everything but the cooked rice in a large skillet and simmer it for 10 to 15 minutes before stirring in the cooked rice. One less pan to wash. I’ve got some more prep photos on my blog. Thanks for posting this potatolicious.

[potatolicious]

Letha, glad you enjoyed it. Your blog is so pretty - love the prep photos, and I'm envious of your stash of herbal teas!

[Anndreak]

Oooo that looks great! I know what I am making this weekend for dinner!