This Chickpea, Spinach, and Brown Rice Pot is a great little dish that is so easy to prepare. Delicious served with some yogurt, a big dollop of hummus, and some fresh whole wheat pita bread or Lebanese bread if you can get it. Great as is, or if you and the kids are adventurous, then add some extra spice to vamp it up.
Chickpea, Spinach, and Brown Rice Pot
This Chickpea Spinach and Brown Rice Pot is a great little dish that is so easy to prepare.
It is delicious as is served with some yogurt, a big dollop of hummus, and some fresh Lebanese bread, or served as a side with something with pizzazz like these Oven Roasted Middle Eastern Chicken Breasts.
You are going to need:
- avocado oil or other cooking oil of choice
- garlic
- onions
- canned chickpeas (you can prepare your own chickpeas and use those if you prefer)
- brown rice
- baby spinach leaves
- ground cumin
- seven spice seasoning (see notes below for a cheat )
- fresh tomatoes for serving
- salt and pepper
Nothing too fancy, and hopefully all ingredients you will readily have on hand.
Why This Should Become Your Go-To Staple
This Chickpea, Spinach, and Brown Rice Pot has fast become my go-to side dish when dinner has to be on the table and I just have no inclination to come up with something fancy.
You know the staple recipes you can always rely on, and you can dress it up or down depending on the mood?
Yeah, it's one of those.
It ticks all the boxes:
- quick
- easy
- fills the belly
- nutritious
- can be made mild-flavored for the fussy eaters
- can be dressed up for the more adventurous eaters
- takes 10 minutes of hands-on time to get it ready (if using pre-prepared rice and chickpeas, more if you want to prepare your own).
Have at it.
Tips, Tricks and Substitutions
Onions and Garlic
This is a fairly simple dish, and we are going to get most of the flavour from the onions and garlic mixed with the beautiful middle-eastern spices.
It is important to cook them at medium heat so they become colored and almost caramelized, without being burned.
Chickpeas
Canned chickpeas are a staple in my house, so that is what we use.
If you want to prepare your own chickpeas from a dried form then you can easily do that instead.
Here are some instructions from The Wimpy Vegetarian on how to get perfect cooked dried chickpeas.
Brown Rice
You can prepare brown rice from scratch using the instructions that come with the particular pack of rice you purchase.
Alternatively, if you like to save time, you can always purchase pre-cooked brown rice which can simply be reheated in the microwave in a couple of minutes.
You do you.
Seven Spice Seasoning
Seven spice seasoning is a common spice mix used in middle eastern cooking.
You can usually find it in well-stocked international supermarkets.
Alternatively, you can grab some from a good spice store or from Amazon.
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If you can't get your hands on seven spice seasoning, you can totally get away with pumpkin spice seasoning and a little bit of extra cumin (may sound weird but it works).
How To Serve This Brown Rice and Chickpea Pot
How you serve this is completely up to how you are feeling on the day.
Here are some suggestions:
- As is, dump it in the bowl, top with some fresh chopped tomato and away you go
- With some hummus, yogurt and Lebanese (or pita) bread
- As a side to something with pizzazz like these Oven Roasted Middle Eastern Chicken Breasts
- Stuffed in a wrap for lunch with some hummus and yogurt
- If you are feeling like more flavor then add more seasoning
Need More 'Bowl Recipes'?
I love a good throw together bowl recipe on a weeknight, check these out:
- BBQ Chickpeas and Veggies Bowl
- Quinoa Veggie Bowl with Basil Hummus Dressing
- Baked Almond Crunch Falafel Bowl
- 6 Ingredient Teriyaki Salmon Bowl
Happy Eating
xx
Chickpea, Spinach and Brown Rice Medley
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoon avocado oil
- 4 cloves of garlic minced
- 2 onions coarsely chopped
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon seven spices seasoning see notes for a cheat if you don't have any
- 14 oz canned chickpeas drained and rinsed
- 1 cup cooked brown rice cooked according to packet instructions
- 80 g baby spinach leaves
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- ½ teaspoon salt
- optional extras for serving: fresh chopped tomatoes, hummus, thick yogurt, Lebanese or pita bread.
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a medium pan, add the onions and garlic and cook over a medium-low heat for about 7 minutes, stirring occasionally until lightly coloured. You want the onions to be almost caramel in colour, but not burnt.
- Once the onions have cooked, add in the cumin and the seven spice seasoning. Stir to combine, making sure to coat the onion mixture.
- Add the chickpeas and cooked rice to the onion mixture and heat through.
- Add in the baby spinach and cook until just wilted.
- Taste and season with salt and pepper. I usually go with about ½ teaspoon of each.
- Serve immediately with some yoghurt, a dollop of hummus and some fresh whole wheat pita bread
Notes
Nutrition
This post was originally published in April 2015, but has been reworked and republished in 2021 based on reader feedback.
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
August says
Always love middle-eastern cooking as the food is very similar to my Greek roots. I have made this twice. The first time I made it, I followed the recipe exactly. I actually made my own Seven Spice seasoning because I did not have any store bought in the house (there are many recipes online for Seven Spice seasoning..basically its a mix of cinnamon, cumin, cardamom, nutmeg, cloves, black pepper, paprika). Following the recipe exactly, I personally found it a bit bland. The flavors didn't really pop in that earthy middle-eastern way.
The second time I made it, I basically doubled the amount of spice and sautéed it for a minute or so with the onions. The saute really wakes up the flavors a bit. I then added the remaining ingredients and it really came out very flavorful. Again, just my personal preference.
veronica lee says
Mmmm ! Looks delish!
Hi! Stopping by from Mom Bloggers Club. Great blog!
Have a nice day!
Whole Food Bellies says
Thanks so much for stopping by Veronica!
Olivia Schwab says
Wow this looks amazing! I'm for sure going to have to try this sometime!
Whole Food Bellies says
Thanks Olivia! I would love to hear how you go if you try it 🙂
Nina says
Yummy! I love simple recipes like this that I can pull together from stuff I've got in the pantry.
Whole Food Bellies says
Thanks Nina! Sometimes they are the best ones 🙂
Danica R (@MemoirsOfAMommy) says
Looks delicious. I bet my son would love this!
Whole Food Bellies says
Thanks Danica!
Kat from curlsnchard.com says
This sounds delicious! I love easy recipes like this one 🙂 And I wholeheartedly agree, that it's always so nice to receive something in the mail that is not a bill - even better if you had forgotten that you were even supposed to get something!
Whole Food Bellies says
It's always handy to have some easy recipes on hand for those nights when you just can't 🙂