I don’t know about you, but I sometimes struggle to find a vegetarian meal that doesn’t leave me feeling I’ve been short changed. Truth be told I’m a bit of a carnivore, and if it was healthy I would eat meat most days. I love other proteins – fish, cheese, eggs and pulses, but my natural leaning is towards meat. My cave man gene remains strong.

However, in the permanent quest to eat a balanced diet I often play around making meat free meals, with varying amounts of success as I’m sure my family would confirm to you. Occasionally I hit the jackpot, as I have here.

This meal is full of flavour, texture and variety. The flavoured rice makes a great base getting everything off to a good start. Topped with a combination of the caramelised, sweet, roast veg, the crunchy, lemony chick peas and golden chunks of the mellow, salty halloumi, you will not give meat a second thought.

I know the ingredient list looks a little daunting at first glance, but I promise you that this is a straightforward recipe. It’s a simple case of cooking and draining the rice then stirring in the lemon and herbs, and roasting everything else in the oven. Once the veg are in you just whip open a tin of chickpeas ready to pour in along with the lemon zest and garlic. Lastly you sprinkle the halloumi over the top – just don’t stir it through the veg – its prominent position will enable it to turn a gorgeous golden brown, good enough to be fought over.

Featured on Recipe of the Week by A Mummy Too / @amummytoo
Inspired by BBC Good Food Herby Rice with Roasted Veg, Chickpeas and Halloumi.

Roast Veg, Chickpea and Halloumi Bowl

Course: Mains

Total Time: 40 mins

Servings: 4 people

Author: Anna Bloomfield

Roast summer veg with lemony chickpeas and golden brown halloumi served over herby rice. This makes a fantastic vegetarian main course.

Print Recipe

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Ingredients

For the vegetables

• 1 courgette
• 1 red pepper
• 1 yellow pepper
• 1 small aubergine
• 2 red onions
• 2 tablespoons oil

For the rice

• 200 g basmati rice
• 1 small handful each of mint and parsley (finely chopped)
• Juice of half a lemon

For the chickpeas

• 1 x 400g tin chickpeas (drained)
• Zest of 1 lemon
• 2 cloves garlic (crushed)

For the halloumi

• 1 x 250g pack halloumi (drained and cut into 1.5cm dice)

Instructions

For the vegetables

• Pre-heat the oven to 200°C
• Dice the courgette, peppers and aubergine into 2 ½ cm square chunks.
• Peel the red onions and cut each one into 6-8 wedges
• Divide evenly between two non-stick oven sheets or dishes, drizzle a tablespoon of the oil over each sheet, sprinkle over ¼ teaspoon salt and a little black pepper and toss everything together.
• Place in the oven and cook for 10 minutes.

For the chickpeas

• Mix the chickpeas, lemon zest and garlic together in a bowl.
• After ten minutes add the chickpeas to the vegetables and gently mix everything together with a fish slice or spatula. Return to the oven.

For the rice

• Cook according to packet instructions

For the halloumi

• After the chickpeas have been cooking for 10 minutes, loosen the veg and chickpeas from the bottom of the pan turning everything over with your spatula so that it cooks evenly. Now sprinkle over the halloumi and return to the oven for the final 10 minutes.

To assemble

• Once the rice is cooked, drain and stir through the herbs and lemon juice. Season to taste.
• Spoon the herby rice into bowls then spoon the roast vegetables, chickpeas and halloumi over the top ensuring that every bowl has its fair share of the golden tipped cheese.

Nutrition

Calories: 309kcal | Carbohydrates: 54g (18%) | Protein: 6g (12%) | Fat: 7g (11%) | Sodium: 14mg (1%) | Potassium: 520mg (15%) | Fiber: 4g (16%) | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 22% | Vitamin C: 129.9% | Calcium: 4.6% | Iron: 6.1%

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