Couscous - Pomegranate and much more salad

I prepare couscous salad pretty often, with small variations every time. Now, it is time to incorporate the wonderful fall fruit, pomegranate.

Couscous is quite a newcomer to my kitchen. About a year ago, I saw Sandra Lee from the Food Network, using it.  I searched online and found that couscous is a type of Middle Eastern pasta made from semolina flour. Traditionally, it is cooked by steaming for a long time. Today, the varieties sold in the grocery stores are pre-steamed for convenience and are ready in 10 minutes. Even though, it is a pasta, it neither looks nor tastes like one, but more like cracked wheat. It is very versatile and is an interesting alternative to regular pasta. I have always been using Trader Joe's whole wheat couscous in my preparations.

This is an adaptation from couscous salad recipe posted in about.com

Ingredients:
Dry Couscous - 1 cup
Black beans - 1 16 oz can, drained
Pomegranate - 1 cup
Red bell pepper - 1 medium, diced
Lemon -1 zested and juiced
Olive oil - 2 tbsp
Chopped flat leaf parsley - 1/4 cup
Chopped mint - 1/4 cup
chilly flakes to taste (optional) 
Salt and pepper to taste
Water - 3/4 cup

Method:
Prepare couscous as per directions in the box. Combine water, lemon zest, 1 tbsp olive oil (I sometimes use chili oil) and chili flakes (yes!!! we love the heat) and bring to a boil. Simmer, pour over couscous, season with salt and pepper to taste, mix well, cover with a plastic wrap and set aside.
In a separate bowl, combine black beans, pomegranates, red bell pepper, lemon juice, remaining olive oil, parsley and mint. Season with salt and pepper to taste and let it stand for 30 minutes. Combine with couscous preparation and cool in the refrigerator before serving.

This was our salad during the POM dinner party I recently hosted. Check out the recap here.

Asparagus in orange vinaigrette

Asparagus is one of our favourite vegetables. It has a unique crisp wonderful flavor to it. I have used canned and frozen ones couple of times, but never bought the fresh ones. My husband wanted to buy them many times and I said no because they were a bit expensive. Finally, last week we decided to bring home the fresh ones and I made this quick, easy and yummy recipe.

Ingredients:
Asparagus stalks - 2 pounds washed and trimmed
Chopped raw unsalted nuts like almonds, hazelnuts, cashews, walnuts, pecans, sunflower seeds - 3 tbsp ( I had only cashews and sunflower seeds at home)

For Vinaigrette:
Extra virgin olive oil - 2 tbsp
Orange Zest - 1/4 tsp
Freshly squeezed orange juice - 3 tsp
Freshly squeezed lemon juice - 1 tsp
Salt to taste
Coarsely ground pepper to taste

Method:
Whisk together all the ingredients for vinaigrette, cover with a plastic wrap and refrigerate for about an hour.

Dry toast the nuts in a pan on stove top or in oven until golden brown and crisp. Boil water with salt, add asparagus stalks and simmer for about 3-4 minutes. Do not over cook. Drain using a colander and shock with cold water. Transfer to a serving tray, pour the vinaigrette and sprinkle nuts on top. Simple, healthy and yummy.

A new comer to my kitchen - Couscous

I learnt about couscous from Food Network. Couscous is a type of Middle Eastern pasta made from semolina flour and dried. Traditionally, It is cooked by steaming for a long time. The varieties sold in the grocery stores are pre-steamed for convenience and are ready in 10 minutes. Even though, it is a pasta, it neither looks nor tastes like regular pasta, but like cracked wheat.

When I saw couscous on TV, I thought it was interesting and picked up a box of whole wheat variety from Trader Joes during our next shopping trip. It was just lying in my kitchen cupboard until I decided to try it one Friday evening. I decided to prepare a cold salad with garbanzo beans and vegetables and a hot and spicy vegetable dish.

I found the salad recipe online at http://vegetarian.about.com/od/middleeasternrecipes/r/couscousmint.htm and followed it word to word. It turned out great. Being a hot day, the cold salad was a relief.

For the vgetable dish, I sauteed garlic, red chilli flakes, red onion, tomato, tomato paste, zucchini, carrot, red and green bell peppers and green olives in olive oil and cooked them with vegetable broth (red wine or white wine reduction may be used too). I added salt and pepper to taste. Then, I added the cooked couscous, mixed and removed from heat. Finally added some chopped parsley, mixed in and served hot. It was yummy and an interesting alternative to pasta.