What I love in this recipe is that is so versatile and flexible that you can literally switch any of its ingredients to fit your taste or the season.
You can experiment with different ingredients: switch out parsley for cilantro, or dill; swap green onion for red onion, or farro or bulgur, barley instead of the rice. Add in some roasted veggies like bell peppers, or broccoli if you like something more filling.
I still highly recommend you keeping is the watermelon, not only for it’s lovely lycopene content (an antioxidant), but because it adds a wonderful juicy crunch that stays rather crisp and fresh, but I noticed that diced tomatoes, for example, tend to soften over time.
YIELDS
2–3 servings
PREP TIME
COOK TIME
TOTAL TIME
- 1 cup cooked rice
- 1 cup finely diced watermelon
- 2–3 tbsp parsley, dried or fresh, finely diced
- 2 green onions, finely chopped
- 1/2 can canned chickpeas, rinsed and drained
- 3 tbsp lemon juice
- 1–2 tbs olive oil
- to taste salt, pepper
- to taste hot sauce ( I used jabanero sauce)
Directions
1. If you need prepare the rice and let it cool down before, or you can use leftover rice as well as I did for this one.
2. In a large bowl, combine cooled, cooked rice , parsley, green onions and chickpeas. Add in lemon juice, olive oil, and season with salt, pepper, and hot sauce to your preference.
3. Let it sit for about 20–30 minutes so the flavors combine well.
4. Add in the diced watermelon just before serving.
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Photo: Imola Toth
