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

[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.