Herbed cauliflower rice pilaf with chickpeas
30 min · 6 g protein · 156 cals / serving
Cauliflower rice toasted in olive oil with onion, cumin, cinnamon and turmeric until golden and nutty, then folded with chickpeas, plump raisins and a whole bunch of parsley, mint and dill and sharpened with lemon. Topped with toasted almonds. Fragrant enough to be the best thing on the plate.
Ingredients
- 2 tsp olive oil
- 1 medium onion, finely chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 3/4 tsp ground cumin
- 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp turmeric
- 6 cups cauliflower rice, fresh or frozen
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 1 cup chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 1 tbsp raisins, golden if you have them
- 1/2 bunch fresh parsley, chopped
- a handful fresh mint, chopped
- a handful fresh dill, chopped
- 4 tsp lemon juice
- 1 tbsp almonds, chopped and toasted
Steps
- Heat the oil in your widest frying pan over medium heat and cook the onion until soft and golden, 6–7 minutes. Add the garlic, cumin, cinnamon and turmeric and stir for 1 minute, until fragrant.
- Turn the heat to medium-high, add the cauliflower rice and salt and spread it out. Cook, stirring only every minute or so, until the moisture has gone and the grains are tender with toasty golden bits, 6–8 minutes (10–12 from frozen). Stir in the chickpeas and raisins for the last 2 minutes to warm through.
- Take off the heat, fold in the herbs and lemon juice, taste for salt and scatter over the toasted almonds.
Good to know
How do I stop it going mushy?
Use your widest pan, keep the heat up and do not cover it: the water has to escape. With frozen cauliflower rice, cook it in two batches if your pan is small.
Half and half with real rice?
Fold in 1 cup (about 160 g) cooked basmati with the chickpeas for a more classic pilaf; the score drops a few points.
Per
- Calories
- 73
- Protein
- (16%)
- 3 g
- Fat
- (36%)
- 3 g
- Carbohydrates
- (47%)
- 10 g
- of which sugar
- 4 g
- Fiber
- 3 g
- Sodium
- 234 mg
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Computed from the ingredients with our published formula, not yet kitchen-tested. How
As written, 625 kcal goes into the pot and 1070 g of ingredients comes out as about 860 g of food: 73 kcal per 100 g. Cooking moves water and energy density is the score's biggest lever, so the dish is scored as cooked, not as an average of its parts. Every ingredient links to its food page, with the same data and score. The label's percentages are each macronutrient's share of the calories. The full formula.