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Grain Bowl with Chickpeas and Rice

My wife and I were invited over to lunch at a friend’s house the other day. We were asked to bring over an appetizer, so we created these small hand-held lettuce bites filled with seasoned chickpeas, hummus, tzatziki sauce, pickled red onion, and a whipped Feta and jalapeno spread.
I ended up with some leftover ingredients, which I piled on top of a warm serving of rice later in the evening. It made for an amazing dinner, and felt reasonably healthy!
You can use whatever grains you like for this recipe, although I have included white rice in the version below.
The following recipe serves 4-5 people.

Ingredients

For the Chickpea Spread:

  • 2 cups chickpeas (drained and rinsed)
  • 1 Tbsp sunflower seed oil
  • ½ tsp Kosher salt
  • ½ tsp red pepper flakes
  • ½ tsp ground cumin
  • 2 Tbsp olive oil
  • 1 cup prepared hummus

For the Tzatziki Sauce:

  • ½ cucumber (peeled and cut medium dice)
  • ½ tsp Kosher salt (for salting the diced cucumber)
  • 2 cups Greek yogurt
  • Zest of 1 lemon
  • Juice of 1 lemon
  • ½ tsp Kosher salt (for seasoning the tzatziki)
  • ¼ tsp freshly-ground black pepper
  • 2 Tbsp fresh parsley leaves (finely minced)

For the Pickled Red Onions:

  • 2 Tbsp red wine vinegar
  • 1 tsp white granulated sugar
  • ¼ tsp Kosher salt
  • ¼ red onion (finely sliced)

For the Whipped Feta and Jalapeno Spread:

  • ¾ cup crumbled Feta cheese
  • 1 jalapeno (seeds and veins removed, flesh finely minced)
  • 2 Tbsp olive oil
  • ¼ tsp freshly-ground black pepper

For the Rice:

  • 1.5 cups long-grain rice (rinsed well)
  • 2 cups water (for cooking rice)
  • ½ tsp Kosher salt
  • Zest of 1 lime
  • Juice of ½ lime
  • ¼ cup fresh cilantro (roughly chopped)

Instructions 

  • Preheat the oven to 400˚F.
  • Combine the chickpeas in a mixing bowl with the sunflower seed oil, Kosher salt, red pepper flakes, and ground cumin.
  • Transfer the seasoned chickpeas to a parchment paper-lined sheet tray, and bake at 400˚F for roughly 7 minutes.
  • Remove the warm chickpeas from the oven, and mix with the olive oil and prepared hummus.
  • Set the chickpeas spread mixture aside for later.
  • For the Tzatziki sauce, salt the diced cucumber, and allow it to rest at room temperature in a bowl for ten minutes.
  • Drain the extra liquid from the salted cucumbers, and mix the cucumbers with the Greek yogurt, lemon zest, lemon juice, Kosher salt, and freshly-ground black pepper.
  • Fold in the freshly-chopped parsley, and set the Tzatziki mixture aside for later.
  • For the Pickled Red Onions, combine the red wine vinegar, white granulated sugar, and Kosher salt, in addition to the sliced red onion.
  • Allow the mixture to sit for twenty minutes.
  • Store the pickled red onions in the fridge until ready to use.
  • For the Whipped Feta and Jalapeno spread, combine the Feta cheese in a mixing bowl with the minced jalapeno, olive oil, and freshly-ground black pepper.
  • Mash with a fork until the ingredients are fully mixed and the Feta cheese is broken down.
  • Save the whipped Feta spread in the fridge until ready to use.
  • For the cooked rice, begin by rinsing the dried rice under cold water for three minutes.
  • Drain the rice, and set aside.
  • In a rice-cooking pot, add two cups of water and bring to a simmer.
  • Add the drained rice, and bring to a simmer again.
  • Add the Kosher salt, and cover tightly with aluminum foil or a lid.
  • Reduce the heat to the lowest setting, and cook the rice, tightly covered, for 15 minutes.
  • After the rice has cooked for 15 minutes, remove the lid, and gently fold in the lime zest, lime juice, and chopped cilantro.
  • Divide the rice into bowls, and serve with the toppings that you prepared earlier.

Notes

You can make all of the toppings in advance, and store them in your fridge. Just make sure to stir up the human and chickpea mixture, in addition to the whipped Feta and jalapeno spread, as the olive oil has a tendency to separate a bit in the fridge and harden up when chilled down.