Chilli rice with chickpeas

I know I only just wrote a post about my favourite bolognese / mince but I made a dish with it that was so tasty it deserved it's own post! We had a pot-luck lunch at work last week where we all had to bring a dish, it being a foodie company it's higher pressure than if I just worked in a standard office (although I'm sure my colleagues would all argue it doesn't matter) - this meant something shop bought just wouldn't do!

Enough of my colleagues are keen on chilli for me to be fairly confident I can pick a spicy dish (my favourite) to cook for them. I wanted to do something that was filling and high protein without being too heavy. Rice is one of my favourite things ever - as I'm sure you've noticed from the number of risottos that end up in my Instagram feed (https://instagram.com/hannahalqadhi/) - so that seemed the perfect carb.

On the day it was just served warm and went very well with everyone else offerings - particularly the warm kale and broccoli salad, the greek salad, and of course, avocado!

Chilli rice with chickpeas

Large red onion, finely chopped
3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
2 romano peppers, halved then finely sliced
1 tin chickpeas, drained
1 tin tomatoes
Lots of dried chilli
1 heaped tsp hot smoked paprika
Oregano
Salt and pepper
3-4 heaped tbsp mince (previous blog)
Coconut oil
200g rice (dry weight)

Warm the coconut oil to fry off the onion and garlic.
Once softened add the peppers and fry for a couple of minutes before adding the chickpeas along with spices and seasoning.
Once the spices have fried for a couple of minutes add your tinned tomatoes and puree, rinse out the tomato tin with a bit of water and add to the pan.
Cook your rice according to packet instructions, while cooking allow the chickpea mix to cook down a bit - about half way through add your mince.
Just before the rice is done add to the pan of mince and chickpeas, stir through.
Taste for seasoning and serve in whatever way you see fit - it went really well with salad (especially avocado as in the picture above) or if you're feeling adventurous on the weekend have it for brunch with a fried egg (and the obligatory avocado and chilli because I'm obsessed)!