Mediterranean Chickpea Bowl
This is a SUPER easy recipe, but it is absolutely delicious. I have made this many times for not only myself, but also friends and family. They are always surprised at how flavorful such simple ingredients can be. A lot of meal prep recipes that are flavorful can be really complicated, but I promise, this will take you 20 minutes to prepare 4 delicious meals for the busy week ahead.
I love this as a meal prep recipe because it takes 20 minutes and it makes the week so much easier. I make this for not only as meal prep, but also a quick dinner on busy nights. I serve the chickpeas and rice with my Cucumber & Tomato salad. This salad takes only 3 simple ingredients and adds in not only veggies, but flavor. If you don’t like feta cheese, you can serve the cucumber and tomatoes alone or add in goat cheese.
This recipe calls for the chickpea mixture only to be served with rice and my Cucumber & Tomato salad. However, you can also serve this with cauliflower rice, on a salad, or in a wrap. I love to add hummus to this bowl. I’ve also had this with Greek salad dressing and it is delicious.
I used a red onion in this recipe, but you can also use a yellow or white onion. Sometimes I will make this without onion, which is also delicious. The biggest thing to keep in mind is to store the Cucumber & Tomato salad separately from the Mediterranean Chickpeas and the rice. This makes reheating so much simpler because then you can only heat the chickpeas and rice, then add the Cucumber & Tomato salad on top.
Happy Cooking!
RECIPE CARD
MAKES: 4 meals
INGREDIENTS: CHICKPEA MIXTURE
2 cans chickpeas
1 medium diced purple onion (thinly diced)
½ tsp paprika
½ tsp oregano
¼ tsp garlic powder
1/2 tbsp olive oil
INGREDIENTS: CUCUMBER & TOMATO SALAD
5 mini cucumbers or 1 english cucumber (thinly sliced)
1 pint cherry tomatoes (quartered)
6 oz feta cheese
INGREDIENTS: RICE
2 cups cooked jasmine rice
INSTRUCTIONS: RICE
Cook rice according to directions.
INSTRUCTIONS: CHICKPEAS
In a small pan on low, add the diced onion and ½ tbsp olive oil. Once the onion starts to turn opaque, add in the drained chickpeas, paprika, oregano, and garlic powder.
Once the onions are opaque and the chickpeas are soft, the mixture is ready to serve.
INSTRUCTIONS: CUCUMBER & TOMATO SALAD
Cut and clean the cucumbers and tomatoes.
INSTRUCTIONS: BOWL ASSEMBLY
Once the chickpeas, rice, and Cucumber & Tomato salad are done… it is time to assemble!
In a meal prep container, add ½ cup of rice.
Add 3/4 cup chickpea mixture.
In a separate, smaller container, add 1/2 cup of the Cucumber & Tomato salad mixture.
Place in the refrigerator for 4-5 days.
INSTRUCTIONS: REHEAT
You can reheat on the stove or in the microwave.
If you microwave, start with 30 seconds and stir in between each 30 second interval. Make sure that your meal prep containers are microwave safe (I’ve melted a few over the years… oops).
If you want to reheat on the stove, I recommend using low heat.
