Dinner, Breakfast, Lunches and Brunches 0.8: Chickpea Buddha Bowl

Collage by Aylea Skye; Original Image by Aylea Skye

It’s more than easy to sideline lunch, which makes sense as it falls in the middle of the day and is restricted to an hour for many on a working day. But as working from home becomes the standard, why not elevate lunch to something more substantial, nutritious and of course, flavourful than a salad or sandwich? And this is where we introduce the buddha bowl.

If you’re wondering what a buddha bowl is, it’s essentially a bowl of goodness; with base of some sort of grain such as rice, quinoa or buckwheat, topped with a protein, vegetables and a dressing or sauce. This recipe can be adapted to match ones dietary or taste preferences, but without adaptations it’s plant based, gluten free and soy free. So without further delay, let’s get into it.

Ingredients

1/2 or 1 cup of Brown Rice

1/2 cup of Canned/Jarred Chickpeas

Handful of Curly Kale

1 Garlic Clove

1 teaspoon of Ground Cumin

1 teaspoon of Mild Paprika

Olive Oil

Sea Salt

Black Pepper

Dressing

1 tablespoon of Tahini

I tablespoon of Lemon Juice

1 teaspoon of Agave/Honey

1 teaspoon Turmeric Powder

Garnish

Crushed Chilli Flakes

1/4 Finely Sliced Red Onion

2 Pickled Green Hot Peppers

Fresh Parsley

Optional

Firm Tofu

1/2 Sweet Potato

1/2 an Avocado

Start by putting 1 or 1/2 a cup of brown rice in a pan, add a ratio of roughly 3:1 of water (3 cups of water for one cup of rice, or 2.5 cups of water for 1/2 a cup) and pinch of sea salt and place on a medium heat to boil. Let the rice boil about ten minutes before heating a pan to a medium heat and adding around a 2 teaspoons of olive oil. While the oil is heating up slice the garlic clove fairly finely and add this to the oil and let it simmer for a little, until the garlic has softened and then add the washed kale. Allow the kale to soften and get coated in the oil. Let it cook for about 5-7 minutes, add a pinch of salt and black pepper and transfer to a plate or bowl.

Add a bit more olive oil to the pan and half a can/jar of drained chickpeas, the ground cumin and mild paprika and let this simmer, before adding a pinch of salt and pepper. Check on your rice and turn the heat down if they water has nearly evaporated. While the chickpeas and simmering make the dressing by combining the tahini, lemon juice, agave/honey, turmeric powder, a pinch or two of salt and about 2 teaspoons of water and whisk together. The dressing should be runny enough to pour, but still fairly thick (add more water if it’s too thick).

Once the chickpeas are coated in the spices take the pan off the heat and set aside. The rice should be done, but if it isn’t allow it to finish cooking – the water should evaporate leaving cooked, fluffy rice in the pan. When the rice is cooked add to a bowl and top with the kale, chickpeas and dressing, before garnishing with finely sliced red onions, sliced green hot peppers, roughly chopped fresh parsley and crushed chilli flakes and finish with another squeeze of lemon juice.

A few optional additions are chunks of lightly fried firm tofu, chunks of 1/2 a roasted sweet potato and half and avocado.

And that’s pretty much it, enjoy!