A very economical recipe for these Red Rice, Chickpea, and Cauliflower Balls, try serving them with cannellini hummus, for example. A healthy all-in-one dish. I could also say, as usual, that my meatballs are mindful of reuse in the kitchen. Sometimes I open the fridge and … transform into meatballs.
I paired these economical Red Rice, Chickpea, and Cauliflower Balls with some 5-euro wrap recipe, check it out for inspiration.
I’ve often talked about red rice, considering its known properties, let’s use it in various ways.
Let’s set aside for the moment the Thai red from Thailand and Java red from Indonesia usually found in fair trade, let’s focus on our domestic red rice.
It is cultivated in Piedmont, sometimes it can be confused with Ermes red rice, which is actually a type of red-colored Venus rice cultivated in the Vercelli and Pavia areas.
Red rice is a rice with elongated grains that are light inside. It requires fairly long cooking, (45 minutes by absorption, 25 minutes under pressure) and remains slightly crunchy, with a sweet and peculiar flavor reminiscent of hazelnut.
For the pressure cooker method of cooking red rice, see it on the blog.
I love it also because it contains minerals like phosphorus and magnesium. It also contains vitamins B1 and B2, calcium, and iron. Being whole grain, red rice contains more fiber than whole white rice. Not only that, but red rice also contains more iron and zinc than its black and white whole grain cousins.
As I mentioned, this is an economical recipe, which I presented with the 5-euro wrap recipe
Below you can find various recipes with red rice:
- Difficulty: Very easy
- Cost: Very economical
- Preparation time: 10 Minutes
- Portions: 4 people
- Cooking methods: Stove
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Autumn
Ingredients for Red Rice, Chickpea, and Cauliflower Balls
For this recipe, I start with already cooked red rice, chickpeas, and cauliflower, but in the preparation, you will find instructions for starting with raw ingredients.
- 3.5 oz cooked red rice
- 3.5 oz cooked, boiled chickpeas
- 1.75 oz cooked, boiled cauliflower
- 1 tsp rosemary
- 3 tbsps breadcrumbs
- 1 pinch sea salt
- 1 Immersion Blender
Steps
As I mentioned, I started with cooked ingredients but if you have time, here are the instructions for raw red rice and cauliflower.
Rinse the red rice well, soak it if you have time, and cook in plenty of water with a pinch of salt and aromatic herbs.
It will take about 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, steam the cauliflower florets with a sprig of rosemary.
When everything is cooked, mix the rice and mashed cauliflower, add the cooked chickpeas and give a quick blend with the mixer, adjust the flavor, and if needed, add a bit of breadcrumbs or chickpea flour to bind it together, I added a couple of tablespoons. Assemble the meatballs round or flattened, as you prefer.
Roll the meatballs in breadcrumbs, pour a tablespoon of oil into a pan along with a few sprigs of aromatic herbs, add the meatballs, and let them brown for a few minutes.
Alternatively, you can bake them for 20 minutes or in an air fryer. They are excellent accompanied by hummus.
Thyme and Lentils Tips
You can store your Red Rice, Chickpea, and Cauliflower Balls in the fridge for a couple of days, you can also freeze them and reheat them in the pan as needed.
Change the ingredients according to the season, for ideas also check out the black rice and pumpkin balls or the borlotti bean and leek balls or the chickpea and bell pepper balls.
