Roasted Cherry Tomatoes and Sweet Pepper Couscous

Yet another last minute ingeniunity… LOL! I was inspired by a dish from Danielle of Mayple Syrup and Poutine made at our last cooking club meeting (the theme was Arabian Nights, hosted by Amarjot). Her contribution was a side dish made with roasted cherry tomatoes and Israeli couscous. I did not have any Israeli couscous handy, so I made my modified version with wholewheat couscous instead.

This dish paired nicely with breaded chicken cutlets from Quorn to complete my semi-homemade dinner.

I made too much couscous, so there will be extra for me tomorrow for lunch/dinner. Anyhow, I really should have made 1 cup of couscous for this dish. Also, it would had been nice to add some chopped cilantro and roasted pine nuts as well. O’ well…

Ingredients

• 1 cup wholewheat couscous
• 1 pint cherry tomatoes, cut lengthwise
• 1 sweet bell pepper (red, yellow or orange), julienned
• 7oz pitted kalamata olives
• 1/3 cup roasted pine nuts (optional)
• 1/4 chopped red onions (optional)
• 1 tbsp lemon juice (more if desired)
• Salt and pepper to taste
• A pinch of paprika
• A few cracks of Trader Joe’s Lemon Pepper or grind of 1 lemon (optional)
• Extra virgin olive oil

Method

1. Cook couscous according to package instructions using vegetable broth instead of water.
2. Toss cut tomatoes and bell pepper with some olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast in the oven at 400F degree for about 20-30mins or until semi-charred. Stir the tomatoes and bell peppers once or twice while in the oven.
3. Once couscous, tomatoes and bell peppers are ready, toss all the remaining ingredients in a mixing bowl. Drizzle more olive oil if mixture is too dry.

Avocado Cauliflower Couscous

I was coming home late from work and kickboxing tonight and had instructed Andy to prepare the ingredients for dinner by following my instructions posted on my blog for Citrusy Cauliflower Couscous. Little did I know, he had made the dish all by himself. I’m so proud of him! It was a little wetter than I’m used to, but the avocados were a nice touch and gave it the creaminess. We also used wholewheat couscous for this dish.

Citrusy Caulifower Couscous

 

I’ve always wanted to cook couscous more often but somehow have never gotten to it even though it is extremely easy. I finally found a recipe that I can modify from EatingWell.com so I went ahead to make it and pair it with some vegetarian chicken breast than can be cooked right in the pouch since I needed to get to my first Cooking Club meeting in Windsor. It turned out quite well, even Andy liked it being that it was such a low-fat and healthy meal. Couscous, especially wholewheat couscous is an excellent carbohydrate to pair with your favourite protein dishes like stew or grilled meat.

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 4 cups finely chopped cauliflower florets (about 1 medium head)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup vegetable broth
• 1 teaspoon freshly grate lemon zest
• 1/2 cup orange juice
• 1/4 cup raisins or currants
• 2/3 cup whole-wheat couscous
• A dash of white wine
•  A handful of chopped cilantro or scallions
• Salt and pepper to taste

Method

1. Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add cauliflower and salt; cook, stirring, until softened, about 3 minutes.
2. Add broth, juice, white wine and raisins or currants; bring to a boil over high heat.
3. Stir in zest, couscous and scallions.
4. Remove from heat and let stand, covered, until the liquid is absorbed, about 5 minutes.
5. Fluff with a fork.
6. Add cilantro/scallions and salt and pepper to taste.