couscous

Honestly, I never thought this day would come. After my wife’s cancer, covid and a holy host of other roadblocks, I really believed that I was just going to end the blog. However, I am finally at the point where I can create a recipe and folks will actually be able to taste the flavors plus I am transitioning to semi retirement which will give me more time to do things that I want to do like creating and writing.

A couple of weeks ago, I was in Ireland for my daughter’s wedding and we had a great time. The scenery was breathtaking and, I will say that, from a food perspective, it was eye opening. I am not sure what I was expecting regarding the pub and restaurant food except maybe heavy meat dishes with tough cuts of meat and no variety. I guess I had Charles Dickens in my head or maybe the Irish potato famine but my oh my! I was so wrong! Every place we ate had their own greenhouse behind the restaurant with fresh herbs and vegetables and the food was diverse and very, very tasty. The dairy products were sublime and the number of tasty chowders and soups was almost immeasurable. I can honestly say that I did not have a bad meal while I was in Ireland. Their food scene is highly underrated and is worth the trip. One of the things I had was a version of pearled couscous I thought was very tasty. Their version leaned toward an Italian flavor profile so I decided to see if I could create my own version of this same dish. Mine is “smokier” in flavor with some subtle notes of sweetness from the onion. I used this as a base for pan seared shrimp and asparagus and it was very tasty. Enough of this intro stuff and on to the recipe.

Hey Pearl!

Pearled CousCous with diced tomatoes (and other goodies) Serves 4

1 cup – Pearled couscous (yield is 2 cups cooked)

2 cloves – garlic (minced)

1/3 cup – fine diced sweet onion

14.5 ounce can – fire roasted diced tomatoes

8 ounce can – tomato sauce

1 tsp – salt

1 1/2 tbsp – capers

7 – basil leaves chopped

1/2 tsp – course ground pepper

Extra Virgin olive oil (a couple of good turns)

Construction Instruction –

Couscous – Prepare couscous according to package instructions but stay to the shorter cooking time because these are going to be added to and heated in the sauce for a few minutes. After preparing, take off the heat and set aside. (normal cooking time for the brand that I used is 10 minutes but I stopped at the eight minute mark)

Sauce – This is a quick sauce so it will only take around 10 to 15 minutes to prepare. In a 3 quart sauce pan drizzle some olive oil (a couple of good turns) and bring to temperature making sure that you do not burn the oil. Note: olive oil has a low smoke point so stove surface temperatures should be slightly below the mid-point. Once the oil is hot, add the garlic and onion and sweat them until the onion is translucent and tender. Reduce the heat and then add the diced tomatoes and the tomato sauce and stir to bring all the components together. Simmer for about 3 to 4 minutes, then add in the capers, basil leaves, salt and pepper, all to taste. Simmer the sauce for another 4 to 5 minutes so the flavors can get to know each other.

Finale – Once the sauce is done, add in the cooked couscous and gently fold together until everything is combined evenly. Keep over low heat and you will be ready to serve.

I used this as a base for pan sautéed shrimp with steamed asparagus.

Enjoy!

The Well Fed Cyclist

Gary Bechard

Did you ever look at things in your pantry and wonder, “what in the world was I thinking when I bought that?” I know that I have and that is what happened before this recipe was created. You see, there was a time when I was thoroughly enamored of the “South Beach Diet”. I decided to do that diet after gaining about 10 pounds eating from recipes that came out of Paula Dean’s cookbooks (she has gotten better, however, because I think her sons are making her). There I was kitchen cruising one Saturday looking for something different to have with grilled fare and ran across a box of couscous tucked way in the back behind some random cat treats. Thinking that cat treats really would not go with grilled anything, I decided on the couscous. I remembered couscous from my South Beach phase and also remembered that it was something the South Beach diet was in love with because of its being whole grain and such. The box was leftover because we rapidly found out that eating the South Beach way costs an extra couple hundred dollars a week, if you are doing it correctly and that is all I have to say about that.

Couscous on its own is pretty nondescript and has a sort of nutty taste to it. It is very easy to prepare and most of the times will only take about five minutes. I figured a good way to dress it up would be to add some roasted or grilled vegetables to it. I like this recipe warm or cold so the decision would be up to you depending on what you are having. If you are having burgers and such, cold is most likely the way to go. You can even prepare it a day ahead so the flavors REALLY get to know each other (a veritable vegetable orgy, if you will). I like it warm when I am serving chicken or roasted pork. I hope you enjoy this recipe.

Revved up Roasted Vegetable Couscous
(makes 4 to 5 servings)

1 – Red bell pepper
1 – Green bell pepper
2 – Sweet onion slices (kid of on the hefty side)
5 – Large Portobello mushroom slices
15 to 20 – Asparagus stalks
Kosher salt – to taste
Coarse ground black pepper – to taste
Rosemary – to taste
Basil – to taste
Garlic powder – to taste
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 – Box of couscous (normally the box will have a bit more than a cup of stuff in it and a serving is ¼ cup dry)

There are a couple of ways you can go here with the vegetables. I normally do them inside on a cookie sheet but if you are feeling froggy and want to do them outside on the grill that is okay too.

Oven instructions:
Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees (you can do 400 but sometimes the vegetables roast too fast) and take out two regular sized cookie sheets. Slice the peppers (I normally cut mine into 8 pieces to do the roasting) and place on a cookie sheet (or baking pan) with the onions and Portobello mushrooms. For the other cookie sheet, prepare the asparagus spears by taking one spear and gently bending it while holding the ends until it breaks. Where it breaks is the length you will cut the remaining spears to. Doing this gets rid of the hardened and bitter ends. (Think the curmudgeonly old man parts of the asparagus.) Place the spears in a single level on the cookie sheet. Over each set of vegetables drizzle (don’t drown) with olive oil and toss to make sure they are all coated (you going to sort of tan them), season with your desired amount of herbal goodness and place in the oven until done. If you are like my daughter, you will want to know what “done” looks like. So to that end, the peppers will soften and blacken around the edges, the mushrooms will become soft shrink and darken, the onions will become translucent and soft and the asparagus spears will shrink, become softer and blacken at the ends. After the vegetables are done, set aside to cool.

Grill instructions:
I have a perforated stainless steel cooking sheet that I use for vegetables on the grill. The difference between the oven and the grill is that I brush them with olive oil and season as I am grilling them but they will look the same when they are done. The grill I normally try for between 350 and 400 degrees and do all the vegetables at the same time and take them off as they get done.

Next, prepare the couscous per the package instructions and while that is happening medium chop the vegetables. When the couscous is done add vegetables and mix until all vegetables are evenly distributed.

If you want this can be served warm (you will most likely need to heat the vegetables up after chopping them while the couscous is cooking) or you can cool everything in the refrigerator for about a half hour and serve tossed with a couple splashes of white balsamic vinegar (or your favorite Italian oil and vinegar dressing).

Enjoy!

thewellfedcyclist

It has been a long time coming…

Getting something to come out of the closet…