Chicken Shawarma Chickpea Bowls with Turmeric Rice & Garlicky White Sauce is one of my favorite lunches. With a robust Middle Eastern seasoning blend, roasted vegetables, crispy chickpeas, garlicky, lemony white sauce & pan-seared chicken, you’d think these bowls take hours to get on the table. While this meal certainly takes some multi-tasking, you basically need to set up the seasoned rice to cook over the stove, the vegetables to roast and chickpeas to crisp in the oven, while you make the garlicky, lemony white sauce and Eastern Mediterranean seasoned chicken.
The spices in this meal work wonderfully together - turmeric, cumin, dried coriander, garlic powder, paprika (I used Hungarian Sweet Paprika from Oaktown Spice Shop), allspice, and black pepper.
A FEW THINGS TO NOTE:
I use both chicken and chickpeas for added protein, but you can omit the chicken to make the dish vegetarian. You can also use a different protein, like beef or tofu, as long as you alter cooking times accordingly.
The carbs can be swapped as well - I’d recommend using couscous or cauliflower rice instead of long-grain Basmati rice, given you alter cooking instructions accordingly.
If you make these, tag @cleaneatsfactory on Instagram! I’d love to see what you come up with. Leave any questions in the comment section!
Chicken Shawarma Chickpea Bowls w/ Turmeric Rice & Garlicky White Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 red onion
- 5-7 sprigs of cilantro
- 1/4 cup pine nuts (or pistachios)
- 1/2 cup long-grain rice (or couscous)
- 1 can of chickpeas
- 1/4 cup sour cream
- Sour Cream
- 2 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1 lemon
- 1 cup grape tomatoes
- 1/2 cup vegetable stock
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 tsp hot sauce (optional)
- Salt & pepper, to taste
- 2 tbsp butter
- Avocado Oil
- 1 lb of boneless, skinless chicken cut into 1-inch cubes
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1/2 tsp ground coriander
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp paprika (I used Hungarian Sweet Paprika)
- 1/4 tsp ground allspice
- 1/4 tsp freshly cracked black pepper
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp ground coriander
- 1/4 tsp ground allspice
- 1/4 tsp chili flakes (to taste, if spice-averse)
Instructions
- Place oven rack on the top level and preheat the oven to 425F. Line a pan with parchment paper and set aside.
- Peel, halve and cut onion into 8 wedges. Mince one of the wedges for 2 tbsp of onion. Mince the garlic. Mince the cilantro. Zest the lemon, then quarter into wedges.
- Drain and rinse chickpeas & thoroughly dry with paper towels (the drier, the crispier - don't worry if the skin starts peeling, simply discard).
- Melt 1 TBSP butter in a small pot over medium heat. Add minced onion, 1 clove of minced garlic, 2 tbsp pine nuts, 1 tbsp shawarma spice, and salt to taste. Cook, stirring occasionally, for about a minute or until spices are fragrant.
- Stir in the rice, water, vegetable stock and a pinch of salt. Bring to a boil, then cover and reduce heat to low. Cook until rice is tender and water is absorbed, 15 minutes. Remove from heat and keep covered.
- While rice is cooking, toss the onion wedges, grape tomatoes and dried chickpeas with a drizzle of avocado oil, salt, pepper and remaining shawarma spice blend. Roast on the top rack for 10 minutes, then toss the vegetables, and roast for another 10 minutes until vegetables are lightly charred and chickpeas have a good crisp to them. Sprinkle them with the lemon zest once roasted.
- While vegetables are roasting and rice is cooking, toss the chicken with the Eastern Mediterranean Spice Mix, salt and pepper. Heat a pan with a drizzle of oil over medium-high heat. Once the oil is shimmering, sear the chicken cubes until cooked through.
- In a small bowl, combine sour cream and 1 clove of minced garlic, season to taste with salt. Stir in juice from a lemon wedge until the cream reaches a drizzling consistency. Stir in hot sauce, for additional spice, if desired.
- To serve, plate the rice, topped with roasted vegetables & crispy chickpeas, pan-seared chicken, white sauce, cilantro & pine nuts to garnish.