Sun Dried Tomato Chickpeas & Date Syrup Oyster Mushroom Bowl

All bowls need a NAME – not just a good name, but an all-caps, this-is-delicious NAME. And this bowl is named my “Sun Dried Tomato Chickpeas & Date Syrup Oyster Mushroom Bowl.” This bowl is not afraid of a name.

In theory, this bowl is just the best crispy chickpea lunch bowl you’ve ever had, but I wanted the title to tell you more than that. I wanted to let you know that this bowl is salty, spicy, sweet and filled with textures, colors, heartiness and flavor. This isn’t just another Mediterranean lunch bowl (though…I do have those). This is a bowl that’s worth doing all the recipe steps for.

And on that note, this bowl is bowl #1 of my bowl series! So get excited, because there will be many more to come!

Ingredients for this chickpea lunch bowl

• 1/2 cup dried farro
• 1 15 oz. can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 2 heaping tablespoons Calabrian chili paste
• 1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes, finely chopped
• 1 large lemon, for zest and juice
• 16 ounces oyster mushrooms
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp date syrup, for a substitute, use honey
• 1 large handful of fresh parsley, lightly torn
• salt & pepper to taste

How to prepare the mushrooms

Crispy mushrooms are a trick I wish I knew earlier in my life. The key is to just *let them sit*

Which I know, as a cook it’s the hardest thing not to want to toss/stir/sauté as you’re standing over an item, but I promise, give mushrooms a little space and they thrive. They’re like a teenager.

For this recipe, clean and separate the oyster mushroom into small pieces.
Put a pan on medium heat and add the oil. When the pan is hot, cook the oyster mushrooms in batches. Add them to the pan, drizzle with a touch of date syrup and season with salt. Cook for 2 minutes without touching them, or until they are brown on one side. Then flip and cook another two minutes. Repeat until all the mushrooms are crispy and set aside.

How to prepare the chickpeas

Chickpeas always roast best when they are completely dry. From there, you can coat them in a generous coating of olive oil, salt and pepper. I prefer to roast them at 375F so that they can crisp up throughout – any higher temperature tends to dry them out in my experience!

The best way to build this crispy chickpea lunch bowl

This bowl is great for meal-prep, so I always recommend making all the components separately, storing them apart from each other and then assembling when you need them!

For the actual making of this bowl, I’ve found that timing is everything. Here are the instructions for the recipe broken down by timing, not by component:

• Preheat the oven to 375F.
• Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Salt it generously and add the farro. Cook to your liking and drain. I like to cook mine for about 11-12 minutes.
• Drain and rinse the chickpeas and pat them dry. Add then to a baking sheet and coat in 1 tbsp of olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast at 375F for about 25-30 minutes or until sizzling and crisp.
• While the chickpeas are roasting, toss together the calabrian chili paste, the sun dried tomatoes and the zest from one whole lemon.
• Clean and separate the oyster mushroom into small pieces.
• Put a pan on medium heat and add the oil. When the pan is hot, cook the oyster mushrooms in batches. Add them to the pan, drizzle with a touch of date syrup and season with salt. Cook for 2 minutes without touching them, or until they are brown on one side. Then flip and cook another two minutes. Repeat until all the mushrooms are crispy and set aside.
• When the chickpeas are out of the oven, toss them with the calabrian chili mixture. Set aside.
• Gently tear the parsley and toss with the juice from one lemon and salt.
• To assemble the bowl, use the farro as the base, then add the chickpeas, then the oyster mushrooms. Top with the lemony parsley and serve!
• This makes two servings. Store the ingredients separately and assemble as needed 🙂

Looking for more bowl recipes?

Here are what I consider my favorites from the blog:

And that’s it for this chickpea lunch bowl recipe!

If you make it, please tag me on Pinterest or Instagram so I can see! It’s my favorite thing to scroll through stories and see what you all are making.

And of course feel free to leave any questions, comments or reviews! This is the best place to reach me, and I’d love to hear from you <3