Broccoli and Chickpea Rice. Fluffy brown rice with fresh flavor and texture from broccoli florets, leaves, and stalks.
Never in a million years would I have guessed that I would be adding broccoli to rice to make it taste exciting. And not just broccoli, but 3 parts of broccoli: stems, florets, and leaves. But trust me folks, those green stems with afros that we all avoided as kids definitely steal the show in this rice dish.
I was inspired to create this dish upon receiving a large amount of farm fresh broccoli leaves and TONS of broccoli florets from being a member of Golliher Farms Food Club. I used some of the leaves in my Healthy Frittata, but still had a bunch left over. When I was doing my Sunday meal prep for work lunches, I decided to jazz up my plain brown rice by adding in the broccoli – alongside hella chickpeas and garlic powder because I eat chickpeas like it’s my job and pour garlic over everything! 😉
Though broccoli can be a “meh” vegetable and not excite many people, it’s flavor and texture work so well in this dish. I chopped my florets so that I had pieces that were all stalk and others that were all tiny pieces of the dark green flowery head. Having the bite of the stalk with the softness of the florets alongside the leaves was a textural match made in heaven!
I recommend preparing this rice dish as a side for a meat or fish entree or incorporating it as part of your meal prep routine. It is extremely easy to make a big batch of this to have on hand and use throughout the week.
So if you’re looking to convince someone to try broccoli, this Broccoli Chickpea Rice is the perfect gateway dish! If you try it, let us know your thoughts in the comments.
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| Servings |
side dish sized portions
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- 1 cup (180 g) brown rice
- 2 cups + 1.5 cups water
- 1 cup broccoli leaves, chopped (about 1 big leaf)
- 1 cup broccoli florets, chopped
- 3/4 cup chickpeas/garbanzo beans
- 2 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- fresh ground pepper to taste
Ingredients
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- Place the brown rice and 2 cups of water into a large pot. Bring to a boil over medium high heat. Cover pot, lower heat to a simmer, and cook until rice is light and fluffy.
- Add the extra 1.5 cups of water, broccoli leaves, broccoli florets, chickpeas, garlic powder, and fresh ground pepper.
- Simmer for 5-7 minutes or until the excess water is absorbed and the broccoli is tender.
- Serve warm. Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.