Couscous with Veggies, Chickpeas, Toasted Almonds, Herbs & A Little Spice

We are in the midst of a very ugly heat wave here in Philadelphia, which I will not bore you with the details of. Except that it is ugly, I am too hot, and I don't want to talk about it. Except to say that I would pay double the value of my student loans for a freak July blizzard. Which is a lot. Moving on.

They (the internet) tell me that whole-wheat couscous is popular amongst the vegetarian set, which I guess shouldn't really surprise me. It's easy to prepare, versatile in its seasoning potential, and can be loaded up with a ton of veggies and beans for a delicious complete-protein meal. So here is the version that I came up with tonight. I got a bit cavalier with combining flavors, so measurements are approximate:

Ingredients:

"2 servings" of whole wheat couscous; 3/4 cup before cooking

1 1/2 cups broccoli florets, cut small

1 1/2 cups chickpeas, canned and thoroughly rinsed or fully cooked

2 plum tomatoes, diced and seeded

2-3 good pinches paprika, to taste

2 teaspoons dried dill

1 tablespoon lemon juice, white wine vinegar or jarring juice from queen olives or something similar. (I used the juice from a jar of pepperoncini, which worked great.)
1-2 tablespoons dried parsley, or about 1 tablespoon fresh, coarsely chopped

A few fresh basil leaves per serving, torn

3/4 cup onion, finely chopped

1/2 cup toasted almond slivers

Salt and pepper, to taste

1 tablespoon olive oil

Makes 3 main-dish servings.

Directions:

1. Cook couscous according to package directions.

2. Toss with everything except the basil and almonds.

3. Transfer couscous mixture to plates or a serving platter, and sprinkle with basil leaves and toasted almond slivers - as much or as little as you want.

Cook's Notes: 1) Toasting almond slivers is easy: Toss one-layer's-worth in a dry frying or saute pan and cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until toasty in color and deliciously aromatic. This doesn't take long. 2) Since I didn't precisely measure the liquids that went into this dish, I would say to start with a little and see how you like it. Of course, if you find that your couscous is a bit too dry, you can add a bit more olive oil and/or juice.

I know - paprika, basil, dill and broccoli - not the most common combination. At the last moment I wondered - what was I thinking? Well, I don't have an answer to that, but somehow this became a delightful combination. Brady hit the nail on the head - it's definitely different, but definitely delicious. The paprika brings a bit of the spice factor while the chickpeas add body and protein, the almonds add crunch and the whole thing is rather herby and delicious.

Couscous in progress. Yumyumyum.

There is probably no way to significantly mess this up. Diced bell peppers would also be delicious in this herb-spice-veggie combination, in addition to or instead of the tomato. It's super easy and also vegan! Everybody wins.

Quote of the Day: Couscous - the food so nice they named it twice. ~ Dale Denton, Pineapple Express (2008)

Last Night's Dinner: Warm Pasta Salad with Tuna & Other Things

It hasn't been very long since I last posted about a pasta salad type of meal, but I find the light-yet-satisfying nature of these dishes perfect for this time of year. They're quick, easy, and also super versatile, and since you can add basically anything you want, you won't get sick of them. Adding a "fancy" salad ingredient like marinated peppers, artichokes, or kalamata olives will make your version seem much more sophisticated than the actual effort that went into it. Which is always nice.

For this one I tossed together:

1/2 box of whole wheat Rotini, about 7 oz

2 cans of tuna, packed in water, drained

1 green onion, cut on the bias

3 pepperoncini, thinly sliced (medium-hot peppers, sometimes called Tuscan peppers)

handful or two of chopped asparagus

a few marinated artichoke hearts

salt and pepper

olive oil

balsamic vinegar

Directions:

1. Cook the pasta according to package directions. Add the asparagus for the last minute of cooking time, then drain.

2. In a large bowl, combine about a tablespoon of olive oil, a drizzle of juice (vinegar) from the pepperoncini jar (or regular vinegar if not using peppers), salt and pepper. Add tuna, and break it up.

3. Add pasta, asparagus, and remaining ingredients to bowl and toss until completely coated with dressing. Add more oil and/or vinegar if needed.

Instead of the pepperoncini you can use their less spicy cousins, banana peppers, or even marinated bell peppers if you prefer. Personally I'm all about spicy food lately, so I was more than a little bit excited about the peppers. I ate two of them whole - seeds and all - while I was preparing dinner, which caused Brady a little bit of shock and horror. It was worth it. 

I didn't actually think about adding balsamic vinegar until we were ready to eat, so I just served it alongside. It worked out fine, but I think the flavor would be better dispersed if it were combined with the other dressing ingredients from the beginning. The sweet tartness of the vinegar is a nice contrast with the mildness of the tuna. This is something that Italians have known... possibly forever. In the opinion of the Food Network, this is what an Italian tuna salad is, but in my experience it is something too delicious to describe. But I'll try anyway. In another post, someday.

Spaghetti with Spicy Turkey Meat Sauce from Rachael Ray

I have a love-hate relationship with Rachael Ray, in that I love most of her recipes, and hate nearly everything else about her - her persona, her catchphrases, her trademark abbrevs. I find her disingenuous and frankly, a little scary. But when it came to this turkey meat sauce, my girl didn't let me down.

I halved recipe, though that wasn't my original intention. Turns out, in my grocery-list-making haste, I had just written down "1 can diced tomatoes," not "1 28 oz can diced tomatoes."So naturally I ended up with 14 oz and decided to cut down the recipe. This was a wise choice. Even halved, this made three generous servings, one of which will be tomorrow's lunch. If you're cooking for fewer than 6 people, which I suspect most of you are, you will certainly want to do the same. I also used whole-wheat spaghetti, which makes this dish even more satisfying while cutting down on white carbs.

My only grievance with this recipe is the lack of purported "spice". For our tastes, I could have easily doubled the amount of red pepper flakes - that is, kept with the amount in the original recipe - and we would have been a little more impressed. We both added a few more flakes at the table, though, which you may prefer to do rather than doubling the heat straightaway.

I am a big fan of turkey versions of traditionally fatty foods, which you probably figured out if you saw my post about turkey burgers with veggies mixed right in. (Except bacon. Don't mess with my bacon). After trying "regular" pork sausage several months ago, Brady and I were both so disgusted with the sheer quantity of fat that we vowed never to cook them again. But turkey sausage, especially hot Italian-style turkey sausage, we are very fond of. Using 97% lean turkey for sauces like this is a fantastic way to get your comfort-food-fix without feeling.... Well, disgusting. And it is so easy and delicious! Thumbs up.

Of course, it goes without saying that this sauce is definitely not veggie-friendly. But, I do think that these simple ingredients would be just as delicious with some chopped zucchini or squash in place of the meat.

That's a very gloomy, rainy Philadelphia in the background.

Quote of the Day: “SAUCE, n. The one infallible sign of civilization and enlightenment. A people with no sauces has one thousand vices; a people with one sauce has only nine hundred and ninety-nine. For every sauce invented and accepted a vice is renounced and forgiven.” ~ Ambrose Bierce, The Devil's Dictionary, 1911

Whole-Wheat Shells with Walnuts & Goat Cheese

This dish had me at "walnuts."

In short, this recipe is quick, easy, delicious, (mostly) healthy, and deceptively sophisticated. And did I mention economical? A big "thank you" to Good Housekeeping for this one.

This recipe can be adjusted for the number of people you're serving just by punching in the number, a feature I am generally much too impressed by. The numbers below are for 4 people. I roughly halved these for Brady and I, but things started to turn into weird fractions, so I kinda eyeballed everything.

Ingredients:

Salt & Pepper

1/3 cups walnuts, chopped

1 large clove garlic, chopped

2/3 tbs. olive oil, or about 1 1/2 turns of the pan

2/3 box of medium whole-wheat pasta shells

2/3 pounds frozen peas

4 ounces goat cheese, softened

Directions: 

1. Heat covered 6-quart pot of water to boiling on high. Add 2 teaspoons salt. 

2. In an 8- to 10-inch skillet, combine walnuts, garlic, and oil. Cook on medium until golden and fragrant, stirring occasionally. Stir in 1/8 teaspoon each salt and freshly ground black pepper. 

3. Add pasta to boiling water in pot. Cook 1 minute less than minimum time that label directs, stirring occasionally. Add peas; cook 1 minute longer. Reserve 1 cup pasta cooking water. Drain pasta and peas; return to pot.

4. Add goat cheese, 1/2 cup cooking water, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper. If mixture is dry, toss with additional cooking water. To serve, top with garlic-and-walnut mixture.

The garlic and walnuts gave this a really rich, nutty flavor and the goat cheese became a creamy, effortless sauce that wasn't overwhelming or heavy. You could definitely use a flavored goat cheese, like garlic & herb, but I used plain. The peas are definitely a must for color. Yum!

Quote of the Day: A piece of spaghetti or a military unit can only be led from the front end. ~ George S. Patton