15-minute Brown Rice and Chickpea Curry

I am recovering from a cold, and didn’t much feel like cooking tonight.  But, also didn’t want to go out to eat since I’m recovering from a cold.  Hubby had a long day at work and I knew he would appreciate a hot meal and not eating leftovers or a sandwich.  What’s a girl to do??  Make up something random, hope it turns out, and not take any bloggy pictures.  But, trust me.  It was yummy, healthy and super-quick!  The kids wouldn’t eat it, but I guess you can’t have it all.  They had the leftovers.

I wanted to make something with chickpeas and rice, and I found this recipe when I Googled those ingredients.  Her recipe is based off a curried rice with chickpeas recipe in Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything Vegetarian, which was my starting point for dinner.  Then I changed it based on what I had in my pantry, and making sure that my liquid to rice ratio was correct for the brand of rice that I was using.

15-minute Brown Rice and Chickpea Curry

1 Tb. olive oil
1/2 diced onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 t. salt
1 Tb. curry powder
1 13.5oz can of coconut milk
1 14.5oz can of diced tomatoes, undrained (I like the Hunt’s fire-roasted kind)
1 16oz can of rinsed, drained chickpeas
2 cups of Minute-brand brown rice
1 cup of frozen peas

Now the ability to get this done in 15 minutes lies with the use of the canned tomatoes and chickpeas, and the Minute brand brown rice.  If you used regular brown rice, it would take 50 minutes.  I did a quick search and verified that quick-cooking brown rice has the same nutritional value as regular brown rice.  Check!

1. In a 2.5 quart saucepan with tight fitting lid, heat your olive oil on medium heat.  Add the diced onions and saute for a few minutes until softened.  Add the garlic, saute about 30 seconds.  Add in the curry powder and salt.  Mix into the onions, and roast the curry powder for about a minute.  I used some homemade curry powder that I made last weekend when I ran out.

2. Add in the coconut milk, tomatoes with juice, and rinsed chickpeas.  Bring to a boil.  Add in the rice, give a nice stir, lower heat to a simmer, and cover and cook per rice package directions (5 minutes on simmer, give a stir, then take off the heat and let sit for five minutes covered).  Put the peas in when you do the mid-point stir after five minutes.

3. Add salt and pepper to taste if necessary.  Depends on your curry powder, and the amount of salt in the other components (tomatoes, chickpeas, etc.).

This was so yummy and quick!  The rice and chickpeas together are a complete protein if that’s important to you.  Serves 2 as a main dish.

Next time I make it, I will take a picture, I promise!  Hubby thinks we should add some spinach or kale next time.  It’s a great launching off point for a quick meal.