Couscous Mix

[nestra]

Since I just made a big batch of this for dinner, I thought I'd write it up here, though it's hardly an official recipe.

• Approximately 1 c. of couscous, though it can scale up or scale down depending on how much you want to make. I get it in bulk from my supermarket, which is super-convenient if you have a bulk department. I would get whole wheat couscous if it were available.


• Some kind of meat. I usually use either a ground meat (chicken, beef, pork) or several slices of turkey bacon.


• Feta cheese.


• Almonds. (Also from the bulk department, if possible.)


• Dried cranberries.


• Some kind of vegetable. I often toss in cooked broccoli or frozen green beans. Chopped spinach would probably work, or cooked asparagus sliced small, or pretty much anything else.


• Optional, but awesome: A fresh herb. I use either basil or mint.


• Also optional: lemon or lime juice.


• And I often toss in: onion and/or mushroom. If you don't despise tomatoes, as I do, I bet a handful of cherry or grape tomatoes would work.

Combine couscous with equal parts water and microwave anywhere from 3-5 minutes. If it's not done, add more water.

Add everything else to couscous after cooking anything that requires it (meat, vegetables, onion, mushroom). Toss a lot. Season to taste. Add more of whatever you want more of.

I think you could really swap out anything you wanted. Different kind of nuts or dried fruit. Different vegetables. We made the batch tonight with ground chicken and curry powder. I think it might also conceivably be awesome with goat cheese, which I'll have to try in the future.

Comments

[wychwood]

Oooh, I've been trying to think of things to do with all this couscous I bought.

How do you find the cheese to work? In my experience, it tends to sit there smugly, coating itself in bits of couscous and not spreading deliciousness through the mixture as I might have hoped.

[nestra]

I think it works pretty well with feta, because at least the crumbles spread out. I just buy the stuff in a tub and shake it pretty thoroughly before I toss it in. If I were lucky enough to still live in a place where I could buy feta from a deli, I would break it apart with a fork pretty thoroughly.

And if that doesn't work, just add more feta. Woe. *g*

If I do try the goat cheese, I'm hoping that putting it in while the couscous is very hot will cause the goat cheese to melt and coat everything. It might be a disaster.