Curried vegetable couscous
A friend requested I post any new recipes I had, and since I'm still feeling more than a little queasy about money worries, that seems like an easy blog post for tonight. Plus, I really did make up a new recipe.
Tonight we had Indian Oven Baked Tilapia, which we all really liked. To go along with it, I found a recipe for a curried vegetable couscous, but ended up changing it significantly, because I rarely follow a recipe exactly these days. Plus, I made this one so it can serve as a vegetarian main dish as well.
Here's what I did:
Chop a variety of vegetables into pieces that seem as though would work well in pearl couscous. Ours were kind of small. We had broccoli, carrots, onions, and garlic, so that's what we used. I thought we had some bell peppers, but we didn't. Summer squash could also work. If you want to add protein, drain and rinse a can of chickpeas and add it to the vegetables. Toss with olive oil and spread on a baking sheet. Roast at 450° until the vegetables start to brown on the edges. You may want to stir them once or twice.
When the vegetables are done, heat some olive oil in a pot (I use the one I cook rice in, you'll need a lid), then add one cup of pearl couscous. (I tripled it and had leftovers with nine people eating.) Stir to toast the couscous a bit. Add in the following spices (I don't measure, so I'm guessing how much I put in, them guessing again to reduce it by a third. We like a lot of spice.)
1 TBSP Curry powder
1 TBSP paprika
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp salt
Stir until combined, then add in the roasted vegetables and 1-1/4 cup vegetable broth. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer on low heat for ~15 minutes. All the broth should be absorbed.
There you go, easy, flexible, and pretty fast. Add some naan and a green salad and you wouldn't need anything else. Oh, and you can find pearl couscous in large bags, so you don't have to buy the silly small containers. If you use it a lot, it's worth looking for.
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