One of my personal goals for 2015 is to eat more plant-based meals. I know that sounds funny because this recipe has shrimp in it– but I have a point. I want to cut down on meat for a couple reasons– but mainly because grass fed, free range meat is more expensive.
Beans and legumes are ridiculously cheap. Part of my “eat less meat” goal is to learn how to cook beans and lentils and do it more often. So, this recipe features roasted chickpeas, and I added shrimp to this recipe because I had a bag in the freezer and it sounded like a wonderful combination!
I recently read the Thug Kitchen Official Cookbook. Let me tell you, I read through the entire thing and laughed my pants off. It’s hilarious. I love their writing style and their recipes, I must have sticky-noted at least twenty different pages. It really inspired me to start cooking more plant based meals. Today’s recipe is a twist from their roasted chickpea burrito recipe. I thought I’d switch it up with brown rice and some shrimp for extra protein.
The recipe calls for Bragg’s Liquid Aminos, which is a wonderful soy sauce substitute. It’s basically a liquid soybean sauce (without the wheat that’s usually in regular soy sauce). It tastes JUST like soy sauce except way less sodium– per 1/2 teaspoon, Bragg’s has 160mg of sodium. It’s stronger in taste so you can use less than you would with regular soy sauce.
Here’s the recipe for Roasted Chickpea & Veggies Brown Rice Bowl with Shrimp:
- 1/2 yellow onion, diced
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- 1 large crown of broccoli, diced
- 2 cans chickpeas, no salt added, rinsed and drained
- 3 Tbsp olive oil
- 2 Tbsp Bragg's Liquid Aminos
- 2 tsp chili powder
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- dash cayenne pepper
- 1 cup long grain brown rice
- 20-25 large steamed shrimp (1-2 lb)
- avocado
- lime slices
- cilantro
- Preheat your oven to 425F.
- In a pot, add the brown rice and 2 cups of water. Bring to a boil, then reduce to simmer and cook for 45 minutes.
- In a large bowl, combine the onion, bell pepper, broccoli and chickpeas. Add the olive oil, Liquid Aminos, chili powder, cumin, smoked paprika and cayenne. Stir to combine. Add to a large baking sheet and roast for 20 minutes.
- Take it out of the oven and add the minced garlic, then bake for another 15 minutes.
- To serve: add a layer of brown rice, roasted veggies, steamed shrimp, top with lime juice, sliced avocado and chopped cilantro!
Hi! I’m Emily, Registered Dietitian Nutritionist and self-taught intuitive chef. I firmly believe that cooking is the simplest and most important step we can take to improve our minds and bodies and build healthier communities. Join me and let’s bring food back to the kitchen!
I haven’t bought shrimp in forever…the last pack I bought was really gamey. I think it scared me lol. I love shrimp in dishes like this though!
Haha I have the same problem.. I buy fresh shrimp from Sprout’s and it always seems to go bad before I can eat it! Now I just buy bags of frozen. It’s so expensive though!
Yum! :D I’m forever looking for recipes that use brown rice since I still have a whole ton of it! Definitely will be trying this out! <3
I love brown rice because its so CHEAP! You can buy so much for $1. Goes so far!
O spicy! There is something about plain old brown rice that I just love!
I could eat it every day!
Haha, Thug Kitchen is way too funny! I don’t have their cookbook but I do love going on their site for a good chuckle. Roast chickpeas and veggies sound like a lovely and simple winter dinner. Seems like a perfect, tummy hugging dish!
You should definitely check out their cookbook, it’s awesome. I love their website too. Makes me want to eat vegan haha!
This looks so simple yet delicious! I just bought the Thug Kitchen cookbook a couple of days ago and have yet to read it, but I’m really looking forward to it! I’ve seen their recipes around social media, but I was shocked when I opened it to see they were all vegan! You’re totally right in that plant-based protein is cheaper than free-range and grass-fed meat, so I think I should start trying to adopt some more plant-based meals as well ;)
Yay I’m glad that you bought the book, don’t wait to jump in and start reading, it’s hilarious. I didn’t even realize they were all vegan until halfway through the book– they aren’t the typical vegan meals!