Simple Savory Couscous

Here's a delicious side dish you can to add to your rotation of rice, pasta and potato side dishes when planning meals. It's great tasting, fast and super easy. It's great with grilled chicken, beef and fish. I also like it for breakfast the next day with feta cheese sprinkled on it. Yum! For this particular recipe, I used the Harvest Grains Blend from Trader Joe's. It contains a medley of Israeli-style couscous, orzo pasta, baby garbanzo beans and red quinoa.

I personally love the texture of this blend but if you want a more kid- and husband-friendly version you can use plain Israeli Couscous. Using this medley or Israeli Couscous are equally delicious, however if it's texture you want, the Harvest Grains will not disappoint.
Here's my adaptation of a recipe I found on the box of plain Israeli Couscous from Trader Joe's. What intially inspired me about the recipe was the use of cinnamon. I'd never used cinnamon in a savory dish before, so I used the recipe as my guide and adapted it to my families taste. I used just plain couscous so it wouldn't scare my kids away. I also removed some recipe items I knew would freak my kids out of wanting to try it. When I put this new side dish on the table, I called it "round rice" and they ate it happily, none the wiser. The cinnamon added a distinct but subtle flavor to the dish. But be warned, I made this once and wasn't as careful about how much cinnamon I used and it took over the dish. So remember, a little goes a long way when using ground cinnamon in this recipe. Hope you enjoy it.

 

 

Simple Savory Couscous
Serves 4

• 2 T butter, unsalted
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 1/2 cups Israeli-style couscous (or Harvest Grains Blend as I used here)
• ~1/4 tsp of ground cinnamon (use about half of 1/4 tsp)
• 2 small bay leaves
• 1 3/4 cups chicken broth (1- 14.5 oz can)
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1/4 cup parsley, minced

Melt butter in saucepan over medium high heat and add onion and garlic and cook until soft.(~5min) Add couscous, cinnamon and bay leaves and stir often until couscous is lightly toasted (~4 minutes.) Note: Heating the cinnamon in this step enhances the flavor throughout the dish, which is why a little goes a long way) Add chicken broth, salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for about 10-15 minutes or until liquid is absorbed and couscous is cooked.  Remove from heat, remove bay leaves and toss with fresh parsley and serve.