moroccan-inspired couscous

This recipe was a riff off a lunch a friend of mine let me taste years ago. It was a Moroccan-esque couscous, pairing vegetables, nuts with some spice and dried fruit. I had picked up some harissa (a North African chili paste), and marinated some beef cutlets, so figured I'd empty out my fridge a bit and make a healthy, colorful side dish.

I cooked up the couscous with stock to give it a bit more flavor, then mixed in some pre-cooked sweet potatoes, semi-toasted chickpeas for protein, and added some dried apricots. Add a bit of cumin, some of the harissa (only a little bit, it's potent stuff), and a dash of white wine to help plump the dried fruit, and voila - a marvelously easy dish to prepare packed with flavor, antioxidants, protein, etc. Topped with some pistachios and you have all the sweet, spicy, and texture you need.

And evidenced by the lack of photos ... the harissa marinated steak was divine. I gobbled it up before snapping a photo. Sorry, gang. Next time. If you like spice, I highly recommend playing around with harissa. It's also killer on steak sandwiches, either on its own, or mixed with some greek yogurt / mayonnaise.

Happy eating!

Soup, continued

My endeavor earlier this week, and the subject of the last post here, left me with a Costco amount of homemade poultry stock (turkey + chicken).

Recipe #1 was inspired again by Elise's Mom's Turkey Soup, so I started to shred some turkey, chop up onions, carrots, celery and some tomatoes and let them become friends again.

The second soup I first made last year when I was living in the Back Bay, and just realized I may have inadvertently made it one year to the day that I first tried it. Either way, there's no reason we can't revisit favorites, and now we can add the photo (from last year, so apologies for the photo quality. I had yet to get my EOS xTI).



Last year, I used leftover frozen tom yum soup broth so it had a wonderful lemongrass undertone but also quite a kick from the Thai chiles Sam and I used. I really liked the spice, and replicated this time (sans chiles) with a few dashes of Sriracha.

Ten Minute Couscous Soup with a kick
Adaapted from Heidi @ 101Cookbooks

(KT note ... looks like I first made this soup the exact day Heidi posted it, then again this year, also on the 26th. Bizarre. Hm. :) )

7 cups great-tasting broth - in my case turkey/chicken (can eyeball this)
2 or 3 pinches crushed red pepper flakes
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 cup regular couscous
1 1/2 cups broccoli florets, cut into tiny pieces smaller than your thumb
1 1/2 cups cauliflower florets, cut into tiny pieces smaller than your thumb

Bring the stock to a boil with a few dashes of oil and the hot pepper flakes. When it comes to a boil, remove from heat and add the couscous. Wait two minutes, then add the broccoli and cauliflower. Wait another 2-3 minutes until the vegetables lose their raw edge and you're done! I added a few shots of Sriracha, but you can leave as is, add some sundried tomatoes and goat cheese or any other sort of topping you'd like. The soup is very forgiving, so have fun and play.