Mezze Rice Bowl

You can be creative here and swap out some of the elements or add more such as grilled halloumi with honey, falafel, yogurt with spinach, feta, roasted red peppers, whatever you fancy really

I've based it on fried rice, flavoured with baharat spices, harissa chickpeas, ful medames, and quick pickled red cabbage. An explosion of flavours, colours and textures

Ingredients

120g basmati rice

Olive oil

2 small onions - finely sliced

1 tablespoon baharat spice

400g tin of ful medames (these are tinned fava beans, available from Mediterranean stores, but make sure you buy the unflavoured beans)

2 large cloves of garlic - finely chopped

1 heaped teaspoon ground cumin

1 heaped teaspoon paprika powder

Lemon juice

¼ head red cabbage

400g tin chickpeas

2 tablespoon harissa paste

¼ cucumber - chunked

Pickled gherkins

Pickled chilis

Parsley - roughly chopped

Salt & black pepper

Method

There are a lot of elements to make here, but they can be made at the same time so it's a quick dish to put together and is definitely worth it.

Put the rice in a saucepan that has a lid and wash several times in cold water. Once you have removed most of the starch, when the water runs almost clear), cover with 2cm water, bring to the boil, then simmer until you see holes form on the surface. Cover with the lid and remove from the heat. Leave to stand for 15 minutes undisturbed

Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large frying pan and gently fry the onions until soft and browned, then add the baharat spice, stir, then add the cooked rice. Stir well until everything is coated with the spices. Check seasoning, then leave to one side

Take a saucepan (the one you cooked the rice in will do) and pour in about 2 tablespoons of olive oil and heat over a medium flame. Add the garlic and fry gently until the flavour starts to release into the oil, then add the drained fava beans (ful medames), the cumin and paprika. Stir, then add about 200ml water and bring to a simmer. Simmer for 5 minutes, then mash the beans with a fork before adding a squeeze of lemon juice, a drizzle of olive and salt to taste

Finely shred the red cabbage into a bowl, add 2 tablespoons of lemon juice and a large pinch of salt. Stir well, then leave to stand

Toss the drained chickpeas with the harissa in a bowl then air fry ay 200C for 12 minutes, shaking half way through, or fry in a little olive oil over a high heat for 10-12 minutes, stirring or shaking from time to time

Assemble the dish by dividing everything between two bowls and finish with the pickled gherkins and chilis and a dusting of chopped parsley. The rice, chick peas and fava beans can be served hot or at room temperature