Name: Sweet and Sour Chickpeas with Broccolini and Coconut Rice
Cook time: 30 min
Ingredients: 1 14 oz. can of chickpeas (*sub 1.5 cups cooked chickpeas); ½ cup orange juice; ¼ cup tomato paste; 2 tsp apple cider vinegar; ½ tbsp arrowroot starch; 1 tbsp tamari (*or soy sauce); ½ tsp red chili flakes; 1 inch ginger, minced; 1 tsp sesame seeds; 1 cup jasmine rice; 1 cup water; ⅓ cup coconut milk; ¼-½ tsp salt; lemon or lime juice to finish; 1 bunch of broccolini; ½ tbsp olive oil; 1 garlic clove, minced; ½ tsp red chili flakes; 1 tsp tamari (* more to taste if needed); light squeeze of lemon juice

These sweet and sour chickpeas with broccolini and coconut rice are the perfect easy and delicious lunch or dinner. Jus three simple elements that you can easily make at the same time! The chickpeas are tangy, the broccolini is fresh and bright, and the coconut rice is just one of my favorite ways to eat rice.

These sweet and sour chickpeas with broccolini and coconut rice are the perfect easy and delicious meal. Jus three simple elements!

I’ve been experimenting a lot lately and needless to say, it doesn’t always end well. And then I get a bit frustrated, so I’ve been trying to balance out the more ambitious stuff with the easy, foolproof stuff that never goes wrong. So clearly, bowls like this one are involved. This bowl has just three elements, plenty of flavor, and leaves you feeling fabulous.

How to make sweet and sour chickpeas

You already know you need these tangy flavors in your life. The only sweetener in this is some freshly squeezed orange juice from a single orange. Then you have some spice from red chili flakes and ginger and some extra tanginess from the apple cider vinegar, which you can easily sub with rice vinegar or even lemon or lime juice.

I used canned chickpeas for this just because I didn’t plan enough ahead of time to soak my chickpeas the night before. So since they were canned chickpeas, these chickpeas came together in under 20 minutes. And for 10 of those minutes, I used to make the broccolini!

How to make coconut rice

I haven’t been super satisfied with most coconut rice recipes I’ve seen online because they just use so much coconut milk. For a casual lunch, I’d prefer to keep things on the lighter side and even after doing that, I’d say you still get a lovely coconut flavor and rich texture from the full fat coconut milk. A little lime juice to finish it off doesn’t hurt! The rice is what I put on the stove first, since it just needs to sit there for 20 minutes.

I haven’t tried this with other rices, but I think it will work well with brown rice and would not recommend doing it with basmati rice.

How to make broccolini

I feel a little silly adding this section but I’ll throw it in there just for consistency’s sake😅 You literally just sauté it with a bit of olive oil, garlic, and red chili flakes. Finish it off with some tamari and lemon juice. You could easily use broccoli instead if that’s what you have, but broccolini is such a fun variation of broccoli!