My daughter, Danielle, is finally home for semester break. Being a senior at Keene State, her senior thesis and portfolio were due this semester along with her food science courses. She was very excited about coming home and making some of her dishes which were created and re-created in class. Her favorite dish was Revithia Me Ryzi or for those who don't speak Greek, Chickpeas with Rice. She made this with lemon chicken which she rolled in breadcrumbs with Romano cheese and oregano. This rice dish was very fragrant while it was cooking and you could smell the cinnamon. The mixture was tasty and complimented the chicken.
This will be one of many new dishes you will see on Friends Food Family as Danielle enjoys cooking through winter break.
Ingredients
1 (15 ounce) can of chickpeas or garbanzo beans (drained)
1/3 cup of olive oil
1 1/3 cups of coarsely chopped onions
1/2 cup of dry white wine
1-2 teaspoons of crushed red pepper flakes
4 cups of vegetable broth
1 (15 ounce) can of diced tomatoes in their juice
1 cinnamon stick (we didn't have one and used 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon)
1 bay leaf
1 1/4 cup of arborio rice
1/2 cup grated Romano cheese or crumbled feta cheese
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
In a a Dutch oven, heat the oil and saute the onions over medium heat, stirring frequency, for 8 to 10 minutes, or until soft. Add the wine and pepper flakes and cook for 1 minute over high heat. Add 2 cups of broth, the chickpeas, tomatoes, cinnamon stick, and bay leaf and bring to a boil, cover and simmer for 10 minutes.
Add the rice and the remaining two cups of broth and bring to a boil, cover, then reduce the heat to low and simmer, stirring often and adding a little water if necessary, for 20-30 minutes, or until rice is tender.
Add cheese, taste and adjust the seasoning (salt and pepper). Cover, remove from heat and let stand for 5 minutes. Discard the cinnamon stick and bay leaf, sprinkle with parsley and serve.
If everything goes well, it should look like this! Oops, forgot the parley.
