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.
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!
Sweet and Sour Chickpeas with Broccolini and Coconut Rice
Ingredients
Sweet and Sour Chickpeas
- 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
Coconut Rice
- 1 cup jasmine rice
- 1 cup water
- ⅓ cup coconut milk
- ¼-½ tsp salt
- lemon or lime juice to finish
Broccolini
- 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
Instructions
Sweet and Sour Chickpeas
- Mix freshly-squeeze orange juice, tomato paste, apple cider vinegar, arrowroot starch, tamari, chili flakes, and ginger in a bowl.
- Heat a pan over medium heat. Pour the sauce in. Let it thicken and bubble, stirring occasionally for 5-6 minutes.
- Add chickpeas. Increase heat to medium-high until it starts to simmer. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and cook for 10 minutes.
- When you've taken it off the heat, stir in sesame seeds.
Coconut Rice
- Rinse rice a few times under cold water, until the water runs clean.
- Add all ingredients to a pot and place on the stove. Bring the pot to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover, and cook for 8 to 9 minutes. Turn off heat and let it sit off of the stove for 10 min before fluffing with a fork.
Broccolini
- Heat olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Add garlic and red chili flakes. Stir for a minute before adding broccolini. Cook for 10-12 minutes, but the tiing really depends on the size of your pieces so it could take as little as 6-8 minutes if your pieces are smaller.
- When it’s cooked, finish off with 1 tsp tamari and a light squeeze of lemon juice.
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