Brown Rice Pilaf with Vegetables

It’s been said that nothing can be cheap, good, and fast – this unassuming recipe sets out to prove that wrong! Seriously! The grocery bill for this recipe – assuming you already have olive oil on hand – is less than four dollars. Yeah. We couldn’t believe it either. It’s also surprisingly tasty! 

We were a little skeptical at first. This is one of those weight loss recipes that, well, looks like a weight loss recipe. But after the first mouthful, you’ll be a believer. The key here is chickpeas, sometimes called garbanzo beans (two names for the name thing – kind of like cilantro and coriander). They’re a great source of protein that’s amazingly cheap and easy to prep. 

Canned chickpeas are the easiest method and although you can get them dried, honestly? Not worth the time it takes to soak overnight. Because canning does require a bit of salt (you’ll notice the sodium content in this recipe is mostly from the chickpeas), if you’re on a very low sodium diet then you may have to buy them dry, but for everyone else this level of sodium is pretty darn low! That said, because they already have salt on them, we’re not going to add any more. They really don’t need it. 

Salt may not be needed, but spices are essential! The little bit of black pepper at the end is something you should not skip. It adds some spice that, together with the olive oil, makes this feel like a meal. Feel free to experiment with spices – garlic or crushed red pepper would also be welcome additions. 

Generally we’re not huge fans of brown rice – okay, it’s healthy and all, but it doesn’t taste very good. However in this recipe we barely noticed it at all. 

The instructions here are so easy we feel a little guilty even calling it a recipe. It’s something your kids could throw together and involves microwaving, cooking rice, and stirring things in a bowl. Literally that’s it. It’s a great quick weeknight meal. 

Frozen vegetables may seem like cheating, but they’re a really healthy choice! Fresh vegetables are often picked early so that by the time they arrive at the store they’re ripe and ready to eat, while frozen vegetables tend to be picked closer to the peak of readiness, so they can sometimes be even tastier – and they’re almost always cheaper. That’s because fresh vegetables often get damaged in transit, and have to be thrown away if they go bad before someone buys them. Frozen vegetables on the other hand have almost no waste. They’re picked, frozen and then bought – less food waste, lower prices. 

That doesn’t mean all vegetables keep well in the freezer – you wouldn’t want to freeze lettuce – but if it helps you get in your veggies, go for the frozen aisle. Anyway, give this recipe a try!

Ingredients

Total time: 20 minutes | Servings: 4

Directions

1. Cook rice according to package instructions.
2. Open Chickpeas. Drain and rinse thoroughly. 
3. Cook frozen vegetables according to package instructions.
4. Add cooked rice, chickpeas, vegetables and the 2 tablespoons of olive oil to a medium bowl. Season with pepper or other desired spices. Mix well and serve!

Nutrition

Serving size 1 ½ cups. Makes 4 servings. Calories 395, Fat 11g, Protein, 11g, Carbs 63g, Sodium 400mg, Fiber 10g