This is a hearty brown rice dish featuring protein-rich chickpeas, tasty artichoke, savory herbs and spices, wild-foraged lambsquarter greens, and a dash of zingy fresh lemon. Hands-off and great for a weeknight meal, this is a healthy and delicious way to introduce picky eaters to brown rice and foraged greens (or spinach!)
Do you ever forage for wild plants? I really love to incorporate treasures from our backyard in our meals and each year I try to include more. We have an abundance in our woods that offer themselves at various times of the year. Highbush cranberries, red currants, horsetail, many wild edible flowers, bolete mushrooms, spruce tips, fiddlehead ferns, chickweed, wild raspberries, and lambsquarter. These are just a few; Alaska has so much to give!
I remember foraging lambsquarter with my grandmother and eating it. “Tastes like spinach!”, she used to say. And she was right, it does taste like a mild spinach. It’s very recognizable and has a white powdery substance that coats it. Anything you forage should be washed well and of course it’s vital to be absolutely 100% sure you know what you are picking.
If you’re not able to harvest any wild greens where you are, spinach will work just beautifully in this dish or feel free to just omit the greens completely if you prefer.
What kinds of things do you forage?
Chickpea Artichoke Rice with Lambsquarter Greens
By Kathleen Henry - Produce On Parade
This is a hearty brown rice dish featuring protein-rich chickpeas, tasty artichoke, savory herbs and spices, wild-foraged lambsquarter greens, and a dash of zingy fresh lemon. Hands-off and great for a weeknight meal, this is a healthy and delicious way to introduce picky eaters to brown rice and foraged greens (or spinach!)
Ingredients
- 1 cup uncooked long-grain brown rice
- 1 15 oz can diced tomatoes
- 2 cups + 2 tbsp (thereabouts) vegetable broth
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 small brown onion, diced small
- 2 large garlic cloves, minced
- ½ tbsp paprika
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- ½ tsp dried oregano
- ½ tsp seasoning or table salt
- dash of white pepper
- 1 15 oz can chickpeas, drained
- 1 15 oz can quartered artichoke hearts, drained
- 1 cup unpacked foraged lambsquarters leaves or spinach
- 2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
- ½ lemon, zested and juiced
Instructions
- Add the dry rice to a rice cooker. Drain the diced tomatoes, reserving the juice in a liquid measuring cup; add in enough vegetable broth to equal 2 ¼ cups of total liquid (for me this was about 2 cups and 2 tbsp of broth). Add to dry rice, and cook according to your rice cooker. Brown rice takes about 1 hour to cook.
- While the rice cooks, heat the oil over medium-low heat in a large rimmed frying pan. Add the onion and garlic, sauteing for about 5-8 minutes until the onions are translucent. Stir in the spices, herbs, salt and pepper; cook for an additional 2 minutes.
- Stir in the chickpeas and artichokes; simmer over low heat for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and cover; allow to rest until rice is cooked.
- Wash the greens well. When the rice is done cooking add the greens to the pan and stir until wilted. Add in the rice, parsley, and lemon juice and zest; stir well to combine.
- Serve hot and topped with additional parsley and lemon zest if you like.
Cook time:
Total time:
Yield: 4
