Healthy and delicious! Spicy rice casserole with vegetables and chickpeas

As we know, rice dishes are very useful dishes that require little effort and solve a meal by themselves. Spicy and exotic dishes, such as the spiced vegetable and chickpea rice casserole will surely earn a place in your home for many diners.

Ingredients for four people or a 24 cm casserole

240 g long grain rice, 2 garlic cloves, 1 purple onion, 1 carrot, 1/2 red pepper, 1 zucchini, 100 g cooked chickpeas, 1 teaspoon turmeric, 1/2 teaspoon cumin, vegetable broth (double of broth that of rice, in volume), extra virgin olive oil, salt and ground black pepper.

Peel the cloves of garlic and onion and finely chop them. Chop the red pepper, carrot and zucchini into slightly larger pieces. Once the vegetables are ready, we begin with the preparation. Cover the base of our casserole with oil and sauté the garlic and onion over a low heat, making sure that they do not get to brown so they do not embitter the result.

Next, we incorporate the carrot and the red pepper. Lightly fry for ten minutes, over low heat, stirring occasionally. Finally, add the courgette dice, stir and fry for five more minutes. Add the rice to the casserole and stir well so that all the oil grains are impregnated. Season and add the turmeric and cumin.

Finally, add the chickpeas and stir again. Sprinkle with the vegetable stock and cook over high heat for the first two minutes, to lower the intensity and give another eight minutes of cooking over a low heat. We finish cooking the rice in the pre-heated oven at 180ºC for ten minutes, where the heat arrives equally everywhere and a uniform cooking is obtained.

During the oven time, we check if our rice is well hydrated. If you need more broth, add it in small quantities (so as not to cut the boil) and distribute it well over the entire surface. When the rice is ready, remove the casserole from the oven, cover it with absorbent paper (or a clean rag) and let it rest for five minutes before serving.

This casserole of spiced rice with vegetables and chickpeas is a perfect solution for those meals in which we want to enjoy everything in one dish. More appropriate for food than for dinner, even if it only carries vegetables and chickpeas, it is a strong dish. The touch of spices, which is enjoyed equally with the taste that with the smell, gives it an exotic and aromatic point.