Peppers Stuffed w/ Israeli Couscous and Basil Pesto

I made the Stuffed Peppers with Israeli couscous and pesto featured in the Recipes for Health column a few weeks ago.  These have been on my list for a while and I haven't gotten to them.  Now that they're done I'm not sure what I was waiting for.  Since I already had pesto and tomato sauce (home)made, it was just a matter of cooking up some couscous and cutting the peppers.  The prep time was minimal (I prepped the peppers and watched the clock while the couscous was cooking) and the cook time, about 45 minutes, was actually a good opportunity for me to go and do something else.  We still ate dinner at a reasonable hour.  As an added bonus, the recipe makes six servings, so there's a lunch in store for each of us tomorrow, plus one more for lunch or dinner or in-between.  For a more substantial meal I'd recommend a nice sweet Italian sausage.

My original plan was to try this recipe with Heidi's "Magic Sauce" which I have been meaning to try in some capacity.  But the pesto was made, and given the flavors of the Roasted Tomato Marinara I used, I'm glad I stuck with the pesto.  I'd like to try it with the Magic Sauce, but I'll have to think of an alternative sauce.  A plain tomato sauce might work, or one flavored with some of the same herbs as are included in the Magic Sauce.

Fruit and Nut Filling for Baked Zucchini

This is the second recipe I tried from Tender, and it was so much better than the first.  I did run into several issues - my zucchini didn't cook through, for one, even though I was cooking much less of it than the recipe called for - but I was able to overcome them pretty well.  One note for myself for next time is to omit the breadcrumbs.  If this amount of filling is needed, double the couscous instead.  The breadcrumbs, though I had to improvise them using lavash which may have affected their success, did not really add anything to the dish.  The yogurt-dill sauce was delicious and compensated for the slight dryness of the couscous filling.  I would also love to try this with the fat round zucchini that you can actually hollow out and stuff.  Quinoa could make a nice substitute for the couscous and would add protein to the meal.  I could also see turning this into a kind of grain salad... chop up the zucchini (maybe grill it first?) and mix it all together.

Grilled Vegetable Couscous

Last weekend, I made a whole bunch of grilled vegetables and had way too many left over.  After having the vegetables with pasta and in wraps with hummus, I wanted to do something a little different.  I toasted some pearl couscous and after cooking, mixed in chopped grilled vegetables and pesto (frozen without cheese).  Super quick, easy and tasty.

Moroccan Eggplant and Couscous Salad

Something struck me about this Moroccan-inspired eggplant recipe, but I wasn't sure what it was.  I knew I wanted to eat it but I didn't know why.  When I tasted it, though, it all made sense!  It was delicious.  I was skeptical, especially because instead of amounts of seasoning it's "go with what smells good," but it turned out good.

This is made of several components: roasted eggplant cubes, roasted chickpeas (roasted separately from the eggplant), couscous, and a dressing with white balsamic and cilantro.  The spices (cumin and cinnamon) are key.  I left out the golden raisins, because I didn't see them at the store, and I also hate raisins, but when I made it a second time I added some currants - yum!  I also left out the chickpeas the second time around, as we didn't really like them.  They did not get crunchy at all!  So sad.  Luckily it's just as delicious without them, and the leftovers are fantastic too.  This would still be fine at room temperature so it could make a great picnic food or packed in a lunch.

Oven Roasted Ratatouille

Browsing through one of the food blogs I read, I came across this recipe for Oven Roasted Ratatouille.  I wasn't previously very interested in ratatouille, but fortunately I clicked on the link and looked at the recipe.  The list of ingredients appealed to me: eggplant, zucchini, peppers, tomatoes, onions and garlic, a little olive oil, rosemary and thyme.  The ingredients are sliced and roasted in the oven.  Simple, delicious and a great way to use up some CSA veggies - this recipe seems easily adaptable as well to your particular vegetable supply.

Andrea and I made this on the weekend to eat during the week - the recipe made a huge batch, so we split it.  (I made it in my Pampered Chef Deep Covered Baker instead of covering the top with foil - the covered stoneware really roasts things beautifully!)  I made some Israeli couscous to go with mine - I put sprigs of rosemary and thyme in the pot to add the same flavor profile.

This was absolutely delicious!  An added bonus was that it only got better and better as it sat in the fridge for a few days - I always had a big, healthy pile of veggies to eat when I was hungry.  What a fabulously delicious way to get a huge serving of vegetables, with only a little oil and a lot of flavor!

The only thing I would do differently next time is cut things into smaller pieces, especially the eggplant.  The big slices were a little more difficult to eat.  But I will definitely make this again!

Turkey Couscous Meatloaves

For dinner I made Turkey Couscous Meatloaves.  This is one of many recipes that I find when perusing the vast depths of the internet instead of doing various relatively productive things.  I don't typically have an interest in anything named "meatloaf," or anything that is made primarily of meat, or anything that is made of turkey meat, but something about this appealed to me (probably the bacon and the glaze... more the fact that there IS a glaze rather than what the glaze is...) and for some reason, I happened to have a pound of ground turkey in the freezer, although I can't remember what possessed me to buy such a thing.

This was easy to make.  Granted, I did not shape any meatloaves, nor did I even defrost the meat.  That is not something I want to stick my hands in.  But that is why I have a live-in sous chef.  (Come to think of it, I did not chop the onions, I did not chop the sage... hmm, what DID I do?)

The cooked couscous helped to give the loaf more substance while the zucchini kept it very moist.  The bacon and glaze (essentially a barbecue sauce) gave it flavor, which ground turkey does not really possess on its own.

In an effort to make eating a pile of meat more appealing to me, I roasted some asparagus with a spray of olive oil, plus salt and pepper.  My oven was happy to multitask and waste less energy.  The asparagus was pretty good although it has been sitting in my fridge for several days.  I am sure looking forward to some fresh asparagus from a closer location than Mexico.

This recipe makes 4 loaves, and as there are only two of us, and I don't eat piles of meat often, I froze the other two.  I expect that they can be reheated in the oven and with a thermometer it would be easy to determine when they were done.  It will be nice to reach in and pull those out on a busy, exhausting day.  That is what the freezer is for.  After those two are gone, I might make this again, or maybe down the shore this summer for the family.

Breakfast Couscous

I am trying to eat breakfast more regularly, since studies show it makes you more likely to be thinner. I decided to try the Breakfast Couscous from Food Matters. I do like oatmeal a lot so I thought this would be an easy switch.

I sort of followed the recipe in the book. I made whole wheat couscous, and added a sliced banana and chopped walnuts, with a drizzle of honey, then mixed it all together. I scooped up some to-go for Ken to go to work.

I liked the breakfast. It was a good serving size - small but big enough to fill me up, and it really tasted like breakfast. I was a little worried that I was going to be thinking of dinner eating couscous, but it worked well. I think using whole wheat couscous helped too, and the banana walnut combination that I chose really did it for me. I could see that combination working really well with mixed grains too.

The honey added a little sweetness, but I'm not a person who loves sweetness - I don't add sugar to my oatmeal (although I do often make it with vanilla soymilk). So it was just a bit too sweet for me, but not to the point where I couldn't eat it. Next time I will have to consider how the banana gets all mashed up and sweetens it too. I might also make this again trying different combinations, and I would love to try some dried fruit as well.

Cherry Tomato Couscous

Ken's mom gave us a whole big bag of produce this weekend, and when she said "cherry tomatoes" I instantly thought of the latest recipe on 101 Cookbooks - Cherry Tomato Couscous. I knew I had to try it and decided to do so on my trip to the beach with Heather.

The directions for making couscous didn't really seem like they were going to cook it at all, but it worked perfectly. Apparently, couscous is already precooked and it just has to "steam" or something. It turned out very nice and so we left it to cool to room temperature while we went to buy groceries.

When we came back we sliced everything up and mixed it together. I ended up using 1 1/2 limes and 1 1/2 lemons. I didn't measure anything really. For the feta I just dumped in the whole container.


This recipe was ridiculously easy to make. Anyone who can cut up stuff can make this. The couscous practically makes itself and the rest is just mixing in a big bowl. We particularly liked that the salad was room temperature. I think it would probably be good warm or cold too, but room temperature was definitely an important aspect of the dish. Deanna even liked the chickpeas! I will definitely be making this again since it is so incredibly easy.