Mediterranean Lemon Rice with Chickpeas, Spinach, Tomatoes, and Feta
Mediterranean lemon rice with chickpeas, spinach, tomatoes, and feta is a 30-minute meatless meal or a side dish that features traditional ingredients, such as garlic, fresh lemon juice, olive oil, dried and fresh herbs. Serve this with your favorite Mediterranean meals, such as salmon, shrimp, or chicken. It's healthy and gluten-free. It's easy enough to make on a busy weeknight and fancy enough to entertain guests.
Course Main Course, Side Dish
Cuisine Mediterranean
Keyword greek chicken and lemon rice, mediterranean rice, mediterranean side dish
First, rinse the uncooked rice. Place a fine mesh strainer over a large bowl in a kitchen sink. Add rice to the strainer and run cold water over the rice, using your hands to move it and wash it. Dump the water from the bowl occasionally. The water will initially be murky but should get clearer and clearer as you get rid of more starch. When the water is clear, you're done washing the rice.
Add 1 cup of uncooked rice and 1.5 cups of chicken broth to a medium size saucepan. The proportion of liquid to rice will depend on the type of rice you use (refer to the package instructions).
Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and cook the rice for about 20 minutes (again, verify the times with the package instructions), occasionally stirring, until the liquid is absorbed and the rice is tender. Remove the rice from heat and let it rest covered while you proceed with the rest of the recipe.
How to make lemon rice
In a large, high-sided skillet, combine half of the halved grape tomatoes, minced garlic, 1 teaspoon of dried oregano, ¼ teaspoon of salt, and 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Cook the tomatoes on medium heat for about 2 minutes until they soften and release juices.
Stir in fresh spinach and cook until it wilts.
Add cooked rice and drained chickpeas.
Add 3 tablespoons of freshly squeezed lemon juice and the remaining uncooked halved grape tomatoes. Reheat on medium heat, stirring everything to combine. Add 1 extra tablespoon of olive oil if you like.
How to make a feta cheese mixture
In a medium bowl, combine cubed Feta cheese with 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil, 1 tablespoon of freshly squeezed lemon juice, ½ teaspoon of dried oregano (add more to taste), 2 tablespoons of chopped fresh oregano (if using).
Mix so that the herbs and olive oil coat the cubed Feta cheese.
Assembly
Mix half of the feta cheese mixture into the skillet with lemon rice. Reheat gently to warm it and soften the cheese with heat. Remove from heat. Season with salt and black pepper to taste.
When serving, top the Mediterranean lemon rice with the remaining feta mixture and sprinkle fresh oregano on top.
Notes
Rinse the rice before cooking it. This is to get rid of excess starch, which is present as fine white powder around raw rice. If you don't rinse it off, the rice will have a sticky, mushy texture, not light and fluffy like in this recipe.
Use pre-cooked rice if you have it; in that case, use 2 cups of cooked rice.
Use pasta instead of rice. I recommend orzo or couscous.
Make it dairy-free and vegan. Use vegan feta cheese and vegetarian broth or water to cook the rice.
Veggies. My favorite veggies to add to the Mediterranean lemon rice are chopped tomatoes, bell peppers, artichokes, sun-dried tomatoes, asparagus, green beans, cucumber, zucchini, arugula, and spinach. Pick YOUR favorites!
Cheese. You can use grated Parmesan or fresh Mozzarella cheese instead of or in addition to Feta cheese.
My other favorite Mediterranean-style rice side dishes are: