Brown Rice Salad with Greens and Roasted Chickpeas

This recipe is inspired by something a friend made for me once: brown rice with kale and raisins. The combination of nutty brown rice, slightly bitter greens, and naturally sweet raisins works really well. So I took the idea and ran with it!

Even if you don’t LOVE greens (or you don’t know if you do), try this recipe. Their presence in this dish is subtle, but delicious.

Feel free to alter the quantities to your liking. Use this as a guide, but don’t be afraid to make it your own.

(It’s vegan and gluten-free!)

Roasted chickpeas

• 1.5 cups cooked chickpeas (or one can)
• 1 t. cumin
• 1 t. chili powder
• 1 t. olive oil or melted coconut oil
• salt and pepper to taste

Greens

• 3 cups chopped kale or other greens (or more or less – it would work with any amount)
• 1 T. olive oil/coconut oil
• 2 cloves garlic (I used garlic scapes from last week’s CSA pick-up)
• a small squirt of Thai hot sauce
• salt to taste

Other ingredients

• 1.5-2 cups cooked brown rice
• 1/4 c. chopped onion (use your mini onions from this week!)
• 1/3 c. raisins (eyeball it)
• 1 T. extra virgin olive oil
• 1 T. red wine vinegar
• 1/2 t. honey
• cumin, Thai hot sauce, sea salt, and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Roast the chickpeas.
   On a baking sheet with sides, toss together the ingredients for the roasted chickpeas. Cook at 400 degrees for 25-35 minutes, stirring a couple times during cooking. Cook until browned and a little crispy.
2. Cook the greens.
   In a cast iron or stainless steel skillet, heat the coconut oil. Add the minced garlic and cook on medium heat a few minutes until it softens. Add a small squirt of Thai hot sauce (depending on how hot you like your food!). Add the washed, stemmed, and chopped greens and stir. Add salt to taste. Cover and cook for a few minutes until wilted and tender, stirring occasionally. Add more oil if you need it.
3. Make the salad.
   Whisk together the olive oil, red wine vinegar, and honey. When everything is cooked, combine the chickpeas, rice, greens, and remaining ingredients in a bowl. Pour the dressing over it. Stir, and then taste to check the flavor. Add salt, pepper, hot sauce, and cumin to taste. (If you salted all your other steps, you may not need any salt at the end. But the right amount of salt is a key factor in a successful recipe, so make sure to check!)