sometimes you just have to go simple

Pin It Now!

As always, I am lamenting the long-neglect of this blog....and the longer I don't post, the more I work myself up into thinking that my 'come back' post absolutely must be something of such epically delicious proportions that it will act as a personal catalyst for revolutionizing my approach to blogging.

So...moving right along....that's not going to happen. I don't want to post something so complicated, arduous or impressive that no one will ever come back....I want to share something simple, quick and delicious. Because really, that's what food is all about. Enjoying something that tastes fantastic, but doesn't require endless hours of labour in the kitchen.

I actually thought this dish might be a little humble for posting, but when discussing the subject with hubs, he actually INSISTED that it be shared. Because it's really good.

And the more I thought about it, the more perfect this meal was for posting. It's a great representation of the type of cooking I find myself doing these days....between having a crazy (crazed?) toddler, a commute that sucks way too much of my life (90 minutes each way...ugh), and just not having tons of extra energy, this is the perfect kind of thing to make at the end of the day. And even better, you don't have to feel like a jerk for serving it to your family because it's balanced and healthy.

So without further ado....

Curried couscous with broccoli and feta - stolen and adapted from Cooking Light

serves 5

1 3/4 c water

1 c. whole wheat couscous

2 c. broccoli florets

1/2 c. finely chopped red onion

1/3 c. shredded carrot (I didn't have carrot so I used a combination of peppers and celery....and I used way more than 1/3 c.)

1/4 c. raisins (used a combination of sultana and thompson raisins)

1/4 c. dry-roasted cashews, chopped (I roasted my cashews in a clean frying pan)

2 T white wine vinegar

1.5 T olive oil

1 t sugar

2 t curry powder

2 t grated ginger

pinch salt

1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

crumbled feta cheese

1. Boil water in kettle. Put couscous in a glass container. Pour boiling water over couscous, stir and cover. Voila. couscous done.

2. While couscous stands, nuke the broccoli florets for about 90 seconds.

3. Whisk vinegar, oil, sugar, curry powder, ginger and salt together in a small bowl.

4. Combine couscous, broccoli, onion, veggies, chickpeas and dressing.

5. Serve warm, hot or cold and sprinkle with crumbled feta.

And voila. A complete, speedy, yummy vegetarian meal. If you insist on meat, you could add chopped chicken or crab.

As an addendum....remember waaaaaay back when when I stated that I didn't like frozen food? And that I wasn't really eating all of the food I had made in anticipation of Lil Z's arrival....almost two years ago?????

Hubs finally got fed up with me ignoring its existence in our deep freeze and ventured into that frozen tundra of dehydrated and now well-past-its-prime food.

Behold, the haul....

A truly, truly shameful waste of food, I'm horrified to say. :( But at least now I have some room in my freezer! I've discovered my freezer is best filled with staples that can make something yummy, rather than something pre-made that just goes to waste....