This warm and cozy Chickpea Stew with Herby Rice is an amazing vegan and gluten-free weeknight meal loaded with lemon and veggies.
Ever have one of those meals that take you back to your childhood? That’s exactly how I felt as soon as I made this. Growing up, my grandmother cooked a lot of meals with chickpeas. One dish, in particular, was like a stew similar to this one and topped with a yummy creamy Armenian yogurt.
Now, I don’t have her recipe, unfortunately, but this one tastes pretty close to something she would make us when she’d come to visit. It’s 100% vegan and gluten-free and packed with a ton of fresh herbs.
Rice can be boring but there are ways to spruce it up. Add a pat of vegan butter or ghee (if not vegan), maybe add coconut milk instead of water to cook it in, or in this case, I added a ton of fresh herbs. Herbs add so much flavor without using salt or pepper. In this dish, I used a mixture of scallions, dill, parsley, and cilantro. I divided the herbs between the rice and the stew.
For the stew, I wanted it to be more brothy so that it was a mix between almost a soup and just chickpeas in a little broth. To brighten things up, add a lot of lemon juice and some zest. Between the lemon, herbs, and some salt, it really flavors this whole thing up. Did I mention, it takes under 25 minutes to make making this a great weeknight meal? Oh Yea!
I wanted that crunchiness throughout each bite so I decided to take 1 can of chickpeas, flavor it up and roast them. These make the perfect snacks and toppings to any dish.
Lastly, to give this a refreshing flavor, I wanted to make my infamous lime crema. I take a vegan yogurt (I use Culina Yogurt) and zest and juice a lime. Mix it up and there you have it.
Give this dish a try. I promise it won’t disappoint.
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XO,
Natalie
Chickpea Stew with Herby Rice
Chickpea Stew with Herby Rice
Ingredients
- 2 cans chickpeas drained and rinsed
- 1 yellow onion chopped
- 1 1/2 cups basmati rice
- 2 scallions chopped
- 1/4 cup chopped parsley
- 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
- 3 tbsp chopped dill
- 2 tbsp chopped fresh mint
- 4 cups vegetable broth
- 1 bunch of chard rough chopped
- 1 lemon zested
- 1 1/2 lemons juiced
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- Plain vegan yogurt
- Lime juice and zested
- olive oil for cooking
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400
- Add all the chopped herbs in a small bowl and set aside.
- In another small bowl, add the yogurt, lime juice, and lime zest and set aside.
- On a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, add one of the canned chickpeas making sure it's very dry. Drizzle about 2 tbsp olive oil, and season with the paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, and salt and pepper to taste. Mix well and bake for about 22 minutes stirring occasionally. Once done, set aside.
- In one medium saucepan, cook the rice in 3 cups of lightly salted water for about 15 minutes or until the water is gone. Turn off the heat and add half of the herb mixture. Reserve the other half of the herb mixture for the chickpea stew. Set aside.
- For the Chickpea stew- In another medium or large saucepan, add about 2 tbsp of olive oil. Add the onions and cook for about 5 minutes.
- Add in the other can of drained and rinsed chickpeas and cook for another 5 minutes. Add the lemon zest, lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste, the vegetable broth, and the chard. Cook for about 10-15 minutes until chard wilts slightly.
- Next, add the in the remaining herb mixture.
- In a large bowl, add a scoop of the herby rice and then ladle some of the stew into the bowl. Top with a scoop of the lime crema and crispy chickpeas.