Asparagus & Brown Rice

I had half a bunch of asparagus in my fridge that I needed to use before it was going to go bad so I looked up a bunch of recipes and finally settled on making this one from 101cookbooks.com, of course.  This was tasty, quick and easy, and best of all nutritious.  Since the dressing is made with a tahini base it had a pretty nutty flavor, next time I make this I'll probably use half the amount of tahini and increase the amount of olive oil and lemon juice.  All in all this was an excellent recipe that I will be making again.  Enjoy!

Asparagus & Brown Rice

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 or 2 14-ounce cans of chickpeas, drained
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 medium yellow onion, chopped
1 bunch asparagus, cut into 1-inch segments
1 cup (uncooked) brown rice
1 cup almond slivers, toasted
fine grain sea salt 

Tahini Dressing:
1 garlic clove, smashed and chopped
1/4 cup tahini
zest of one lemon
scant 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons hot water
scant 1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt

Directions

Cook 1 cup brown rice in two cups water or chicken stock and set aside. (This takes about 40 minutes or so, so I always start cooking my rice about 20-30 minutes before I start making the other preparations for dinner.)

Make the dressing by whisking together the garlic, tahini, lemon zest and juice, and olive oil. Add the hot water to thin a bit and then the salt. Set aside.

Add a couple glugs of olive oil (roughly 3 tablespoons) to a big skillet over medium-high heat. Swirl the oil around to coat the pan, then add the chickpeas and sprinkling of salt. Let the beans saute there for a couple minutes (I like to try to get some crusty color on them). Be careful, they seem to hiss and pop more then other beans over high heat. Add the garlic and onions. Stir for a minute. Stir in the asparagus with another pinch or two of salt, cover with a lid for a minute or two to steam - just until the asparagus brightens and softens up just a bit. Uncover and stir in the rice and almond slivers, reserving a few almonds for garnish. Taste and add more salt if needed (likely). Serve family-style in a big bowl drizzled with a few tablespoons of the tahini dressing, let each person add more dressing to their tastes.

Serves 4-6.