Sweet Curried Rice Bowl

We are a bowl family.  Put a spoon in front of us with something to scoop up in a bowl, and we're good to go.  This is only one of the reasons this meal was such a hit last week!

Other reasons include the unexpected well-rounded yet bold flavors balanced with the slightly sweet, and the fullness in our tummies once we were done.  We loved that with only adding some roasted broccoli and a side salad, this was a complete meal.  We literally licked our plates clean we enjoyed the flavor so much.  OK, so maybe we just used the broccoli to clean up any excess in the bowls...but had the broccoli not been available, I'm sure we would have resorted to licking!

This was a cinch to put together.  I used my rice cooker and that saved so much time and energy.  I used only 1/2 cup chopped dates and Scot and I both thought it could have used more -- we were hunting for them, but they all seemed to be lost!  Next time I make this, if I don't have dates on hand, I'll sub in raisins as they would go really well and won't make the meal too sweet using a full cup.

Very slightly adapted from this recipe.

Sweet Curried Rice Bowl
serves 6

• 2 1/2 cups brown rice 
• 5 cups vegetable broth
• 2 TBLS sweet curry powder
• 2 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 3/4 tsp cumin
• 1/4 tsp paprika
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 1/2 cup carrots, chopped
• 1/2 cup chopped dates OR 3/4 cup raisins
• 2 cans garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained 

-- Cook the rice with all the spices until rice is tender

-- When rice is close to being done, saute the onion and carrots with a little olive oil until tender (10 minutes)

-- Combine everything in a large bowl and stir.  Serve immediately, or simply reheat when ready.