Orange Couscous Salad

I just spent the weekend in Michigan, and my healthy-eating friend Jen introduced me to Cottage Living magazine (a great new source for decorating inspiration), and therefore this healthy and really tasty recipe. I substituted Quinoa instead of couscous (PS - does anyone have any info on quinoa? As far as I can tell it's a low-carb, protein-packed grain, but it tasted so good I'm afraid I'm fooling myself), and added pine nuts and shaved zucchini to the recipe. Yum!

Ingredients

1 (10-ounce) box plain couscous (I used 1 cup uncooked quinoa, and followed the directions on the package) 
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more to taste 
1 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste 
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper, plus more to taste 
1/2 small red onion, finely chopped (about 1/4 cup) 
2 oranges 
2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley 
2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint 
1 cucumber, peeled, seeded, and chopped (about 1 cup) 
1 cup golden raisins, currants, or chopped dates 

Preparation

1. Pour couscous into a large bowl, and stir in 1 cup boiling water. Cover with plastic wrap, and let steam 5 minutes or until couscous is tender. Fluff with a fork, and stir in oil and next 3 ingredients. Let cool slightly.

2. Zest both oranges; juice one. Peel second orange, and chop. Add zest, juice, and chopped orange to couscous mixture. Stir in remaining ingredients. Cover and chill 1 hour or up to 2 days. Add more oil, salt, or pepper if desired before serving.

Yield

Makes 6 to 8 servings

Kim Sunée , Cottage Living, JANUARY 2008

Shrimp with Arugula and Couscous

This recipe is courtesy of Real Simple. It is really healthy, and more flavorful than expected. I toasted some sliced almonds to add, and served it with the lemon wedges. 

1 cup instant couscous 
3 tablespoons olive oil 
1 clove garlic, thinly sliced 
1 5-ounce bag arugula 
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt 
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 
20 medium-size shrimp, deveined 
1 lemon, quartered 

Prepare the couscous according to the package directions and fluff with a fork. Meanwhile, heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook until aromatic, about 1 minute. Add the arugula and cook until just wilted, about 1 more minute. Combine the arugula and couscous in a large bowl, season with half the salt and pepper, and toss gently. In the same skillet, heat the remaining oil over medium-high heat, season the shrimp with the remaining salt and pepper, then cook 2 minutes on each side. Serve over the couscous with a squeeze of lemon.

Tip: Baby spinach makes a nice stand-in for arugula. Buy either prewashed and bagged to make this quick dinner even quicker. 

Yield: Makes 4 servings 

Imjadara

I have been trying to cook more, with all of our fun new equipment. My goal is to come up with 5-10 good veggie dishes to make for Dirk. This isn't the most colorful recipe I've ever made, but was really good - I used cous cous because they didn't have bulgar in the market downstairs, and finishing it off with the Greek yogurt was perfect.

Imjadara
4 cups vegetable stock
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/2 teaspoon coriander
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
Pinch of cayenne or a tiny squeeze (about 1/4 teaspoon) of chili pepper paste
Salt and pepper to taste
1 cup brown or green lentils, rinsed
1 1/4 cups coarse-ground bulgur
6-8 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 large onions, halved and thickly sliced

In a large, heavy pot, bring the stock to a boil. Stir in the tomato paste and all spices except the salt and pepper, then add the lentils. Simmer, with the lid on, for about 15 minutes or until the lentils are almost tender.

Taste, and add salt and pepper if desired (you probably won’t need the salt if you’ve used a pre-prepared stock). Stir in the bulgur, put the lid back on, and cook over very low heat for another 10-15 minutes. Check it; if it seems dry, add a splash of water. Put the lid back on, remove from heat, and let the pot sit for another 10 minutes or so, after which time the bulgur should be tender and nicely plumped. Stir in 5 tablespoons of the olive oil (I occasionally stop at 3 if the bulgur is very moist.)

As your stock is coming to the boil, get started on the onions. Heat 3 tablespoons of the olive oil in a large skillet. Add the onions and fry over medium heat for about 30 minutes, stirring often, until they’re very brown. Turn the heat up towards the end to caramelize the onions.

Serve the lentils and bulgur topped with the onions and accompany, if you like, with thick Greek yogurt. The dish may be served hot or cold.

Serves 4 as a main, 6 as a side dish.

Bubble and Squeak

After dinner, there was a lot of talk of "bubble and squeak" for the next day - not a bad idea for leftovers!

Bubble and squeak (sometimes just called bubble) is a traditional English dish made with the shallow-fried leftover vegetables from a roast dinner. The chief ingredients are potatoand cabbage, but carrots, peas, brussels sprouts, and other vegetables can be added. It is traditionally served with cold meat from the Sunday roast, and pickles. Traditionally the meat was added to the bubble and squeak itself, although nowadays the vegetarian version is more common. The cold chopped vegetables (and cold chopped meat if used) are fried in a pan together with mashed potato until the mixture is well-cooked and brown on the sides.

The name is thought to be either a description of the action and sound made during the cooking process, a reference to the gas "bubbles" the dish causes and the "squeak" one's body makes upon releasing them, or from the fact that the ingredients are leftovers; 'the bubble of the stew and the squeak of the pig'