Curried Chickpeas & Cauliflower
With Rice Pilaf Spicy & Avocado
This dish is largely inspired by a “Plated” recipe, a former meal delivery service that’s now transitioned to meal kits you can purchase in select stores. We’ve got a nice base of basmati rice pilaf mixed with caramelized shallots, toasted cinnamon, and dried cranberries. Our veggies are comprised of oven roasted chickpeas & purple cauliflower (purple because... why not?) dressed in olive oil and garam masala. To balance these earthy flavors, the spicy avocado brings a nice zing to the dish from the jalapeño to round everything out. Garnished with toasted cashews and mint leaves, you’ll be finishing this dish up full and satisfied... unless you’re down for seconds like I usually am!
Nutritionally, we’ve got a lot of good stuff going on here. First off, this recipe is virtually all plant-based! So you know you’re getting a solid amount of fiber in this recipe. Fiber is essential for various reasons including the growth/maintenance of healthy gut bacteria, assisting in regular bowel movements (yes I went there 💩), and can also help maintain healthy blood sugar and cholesterol levels by slowing down absorption. Fats are found throughout each element of this recipe from olive oil (or oil of your choosing), avocado, and cashews. This recipe’s also jam packed with vitamins and minerals from mint, cilantro, and spice blends throughout. At the end of the day, we’ve got ourselves a BALANCED meal.
And for those of you who are worried about protein, no need to fear! We’ve got a complete set of proteins thanks to the chickpeas and rice working together to give you a dose of all the essential amino acids you need in your diet. In other words, essential amino acids are the proteins that our bodies cannot make on their own, therefore we need to get them from our food. The classic example of a complete plant-based protein is beans and rice and is a major staple in a lot of cuisines around the world.
Needless to say, I’m obsessed with this recipe. I’ll usually make this dish at least once a month, and Mario is also a huge fan of it too 👌🏼! Give this recipe a whirl and see how you feel about it. If you’re like me, you’ll love the heat this dish brings (mainly from the avocado spread). If not, ditch the jalapeño (or remove the seeds) and swap for a pepper with less spice, or maybe even go for more zesty with some lime instead.
Curried Chickpeas & Cauliflower With Rice Pilaf And Spicy Avocado
Ingredients
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450 F
- Drain and rinse chickpeas, then pat dry with a paper towel
- Cut off leaves and core of cauliflower head, breaking into 1 inch florets
- Roughly chop up cilantro (no need for perfection, you’ll be blending later)
- Peel and thinly slice shallot
- Halve jalapeño and mince (leave this out if you are sensitive to spice and swap for some lime juice and/or lime zest instead)
- Toss cauliflower and chickpeas in 2 tbsps of olive oil and season to taste with salt and black pepper
- Place in the oven and roast for 20 minutes or until cauliflower begins to char
- While veggies are roasting, toss crushed cashews into a medium pot over medium-high heat. Stir cashews until toasted and fragrant, 3ish minutes then set aside
- Heat 2 tsp oil to medium high heat then add cranberries, cinnamon stick, and shallots
- Cook and stir until shallots are softened and fragrant, 3-4 minutes
- Add rice to pot with caramelized shallots to toast for 2-3 minutes
- Add 1 1/4 cup of water and a touch of salt if desired
- Bring to a boil over high heat, stir, then reduce heat to medium-low
- Cover pot and cook for 10 min until water is absorbed
- Remove cinnamon stick. Fluff rice with fork and cover to keep warm
- While rice cooks, halve avocado and scoop out flesh
- Put into food processor or blender and add milk, chopped cilantro, jalapeño, salt, and black pepper as desired
- Blend until smooth (or chunky if you’d like more texture). If you don’t have a blender or food processor, you can mash the avocado up separately and add the rest in
- Start with the avocado raita and dollop on one side of the plate
- Add rice pilaf and top with chickpeas and cauliflower
- Garnish with toasted cashews, mint leaves, and lime wedges
- Enjoy!
Hi There!
My name is Allison, and I’m a registered dietitian offering nutrition counseling for people looking to optimize their nutrition through a non-diet, intuitive eating approach — meaning I will NEVER have you counting calories or make you restrict foods or food groups. Instead, my goal is to help you feel confident in choosing foods and eating habits that help you feel your best. This includes being able to understand your hunger and fullness cues, giving yourself permission to eat foods you enjoy, and ditching toxic diet culture.
Whether you are managing chronic conditions such as high blood pressure or diabetes, or simply looking for guidance on how to break the cycle of dieting and build a better relationship with food, weight-neutral nutrition therapy can help you to make peace with food and have you live your best life!
