Chickpea and Kale Asian Rice

Per usual, we have too many projects to do and not enough time. I don't know if it's the change of seasons that we are now feeling the rush of fall 'to-dos', but it's getting to be crazy! Also, with the change of seasons I find myself wanting to live in the kitchen. I am quickly realizing that I love fall foods. The harvest is bountiful. Everything seems to be ready to pick, eat and be made. My kale, I can't keep up with ... what a great problem, right?

My problem is that there are too many things to do to spend too much time in the kitchen. I find myself making quick dinners so that I can spend time experimenting and making other fun foods ... also, I've done more canning this year than ever before which takes a bit of time! Paul always tries to ground me and tell me that we always will have too many thing to do and not enough time. It all goes along with having a family, owning a home, etc. I know he's right, but I still try to squuze 75 minutes into an hour!

Pasta dishes are my go-to for fast dinner nights. For some reason, I always tend to gravitate more towards pasta than rice and if I'm going to do a grain, I usually use quinoa. Because I've been doing quite a few quick dinners even I'm getting tired of pasta. Lately, I'm trying to get on a rice kick and to use more grains. The great thing about grain recipes is you can substitute them so easily with whatever you have in the pantry. Feel free to mix it up. I've made this recipe with quinoa, barley and farro before too.

Chickpea and Kale Asian Rice

Makes 3 cups

3/4 c jasmine rice, or other grain
2 T coconut or olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minces
3/4 c onion
2 c kale, packed
1 c chickpeas, cooked
3 T nut butter
3 T tamari
2 T toasted sesame oil
1/4 t crushed red pepper
1/2 t salt
1/4 t pepper

Make rice according to package directions.

Sauté garlic and onion in hot oil until the onion starts turning brown. Add kale and cook down until it has entirely wilted. Add in chickpeas.

In a separate bowl, mix together nut butter, tamari, toasted sesame oil, salt and peppers. When rice is done, mix in the dressing ingredients then fold into your vegetables.