Whenever I try on a new food ingredient it is usually based off a nostalgic memory. For an example take couscous: A month back google photos reminded me of our trip to Florida 6 years ago (how much I appreciate these reminders, recently I makes me sad as I don’t see much travelling this year as well). I had couscous and avocado toast for the first time in that trip! Avocado toast at Threefold Cafe and couscous at Blue Collar and both have stayed with me since then.
The difference; avocado toast is staple in our house while this is the first time I bought and cooked couscous. Sure I have curried couscous salad every time I have been to Mendocino Farms but cooking at home, this is the first!
And last weekend as I walked around the stalls of farmers market admiring very colorful peppers and juicy green bundles of asparagus standing by themselves, I had this recipe brewing in my head.
Don’t limit yourselves to just the veggies I used, you go ahead add some mushrooms, green beans, snap peas! Go all out spring!
Happy Cooking!
Spring Vegetables with Couscous
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 medium onion cut into thick slices
- 1 leek pale green and white section cut lengthwise into 2 inch pieces
- 2 carrots peeled, cut into round slices
- 8 ounce asparagus end trimmed and cut into 2 inch pieces
- 3 sweet bell peppers (color of your choice) cut into thick slices
- 1 tsp cumin powder
- 1/2 tsp ginger powder or 2 inch freshly grated ginger
- 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
- 2 tsp harissa paste or hot sauce of your choice
- 1/4 tsp chile flakes
- 1 15 ounce canned chickpeas drained and rinsed
- 2 cup vegetable broth low sodium
- salt & pepper as per taste
- parsley and mint chopped, for garnish
- 1 cup couscous I used quick cook peal couscous
Instructions
- Cook the couscous as per the package instruction; make sure to add salt.
- While couscous is cooking, in a large skillet heat the olive oil on a medium heat.
- Add onions and cooking them until translucent, around 5 minutes.
- Next add the leek, carrots, asparagus and peppers along with dash of salt and cook for a minute.
- Stir in the spices(cumin powder, turmeric, chile flakes and ginger powder) and harissa paste. Add salt and pepper as per your taste preference. Cook the veggies with spice mix for 5 minutes.
- Raise the heat to medium high, add chickpeas and vegetable broth and bring it to boil.
- Once the mix comes to boil, reduce heat to low heat. Cover the skillet and let everything cook for 8 to 10 minutes. There should be some liquid left by end of cooking time.
- Taste the spice level as well as salt and pepper, add more if needed.
- Turn off the heat and garnish with chopped parsley and mint.
- Serves the vegetables with the some liquid on a bed of warm couscous.
