Recipe - Chickpea Spinach Risotto-ish

It's food time!

Years ago, when I started this account, I was very much 'into the food'. I did plenty of baking and made some nice dinners and desserts aswell. I'm not sure when this changed, but at some point I found myself without inspiration or even the will to bother much with food. I'm still at that point and inspiration doesn't come around a lot, so whenever I do want something very much, I'm happy, because it means a change from the regular, easy, unimaginative dinners I usually make.

Yesterday was such a time when inspiration hit. I was looking in my pantry and saw loads of chickpeas just standing around. I decided I wanted to make a sort of chickpea risotto!

Ofcourse, once everything was thought out, I found I do not have risotto rice in the house. Oops! I did, however have 'dessert rice', which I'm not sure is a thing outside of the Netherlands, although the English appear to have 'pudding rice', which is probably kind of the same thing. Either way, it's a soft, white rice that holds a lot of fluid, which is basically what I needed as a replacement.

So! I made a 'kind of risotto' not in the way a true risotto is made. But who cares, it was delicious nonetheless!

Chickpea Spinach Risotto-ish

This recipe held about 3 servings, so scale up or down accordingly.

Ingredients

• 400g chickpeas from a can (if you use dried ones, make sure they're pre-cooked)
• 100g dessert rice (a risotto rice, or a rice that soaks up a lot of fluid)
• 400g Coconut milk (I used one can)
• About 100ml of water / boullion (I threw in some boullion powder)
• A Diced onion
• 3 - 4 Minced garlic cloves
• 200/300g frozen spinach and/or kale, whichever you prefer or have lying around
• A big enough pan/pot, because this is a one-pot dish.

Directions

1. Put some oil into your pan/pot and heat up your garlic and onion for a couple of minutes.
2. Add the coconut milk and water/boullion, cover the pan and heat up until boiling.
3. Add your rice and heat up while stirring occasionally and letting it soak up the fluid.
4. Once your mixture starts to thicken a little, add the chickpeas and stir again.
5. A few minutes later, add the frozen vegetables and stir occasionally.
6. Once the veggies are mixed in well and heated, your dish is ready!

This was definitely a 'let's just try this stuff and see where it goes' kinda thing. I think my ingredient amounts are about right, but if you notice too little fluids by the end, ofcourse, adjust accordingly. Follow the directions, but follow your own instinct aswell! I was a little late with the chickpeas and ended up throwing in the veggies basically at the same time to give them more time to thaw.

I think this dish would be delicious with some mushrooms added in aswell, but I didn't have those lying around. Next time!

Anyway, enjoy!

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