Giant wholemeal couscous salad with a tahini-maple dressing

I look back at my last post with a certain amount of wry acceptance. Alas, my hopes of long weekend bike riding and picnicking were not to be. Poor Mini Bite came down with a stomach bug early on Sunday morning and was unwell for the next 3 days. Poor Mr Bite had the same thing on Friday through to Saturday, and I am desperately hoping it ends there. (I had 24 hours of nausea but nothing more dramatic - at least to date!)

On to happier topics. This meal is, to me, the epitome of comfort food. 'Salad' usually conjures up images of crunchy greens but this dish is hearty and soothing. It pairs giant wholemeal couscous with sweet potato and peas, plus seasonings of paprika, turmeric and cinnamon and a simple tahini-maple dressing. You can enjoy it hot or cold, and as a side or main dish.

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Golden couscous salad

It has been a while between couscous recipes. There is no particular reason for this, other than the usual one of my favoured foods going through cycles. I may be re-entering a couscous phase since reminding myself of how easy it is to make.

Today's salad is golden in lots of ways. There is orange in three formats (zest, juice, segments) plus grated carrot, chopped butternut squash and turmeric. Coriander, ginger and a dash of soy sauce round out the flavour mix, whilst chickpeas and spinach leaves round out the meal. It all comes together very easily and the result is hearty enough to stand alone as a meal, whilst also being well suited to picnic-style eating or a barbecue side dish.

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Spiced couscous salad with grilled portobello mushrooms

I'm still in my mushroom phase and have branched out from small button mushrooms to the larger portobello variety. Aren't they fun? One day we will have an outdoor barbecue and I'll grill them in style, but for now they are just as delicious cooked in an oven-based griller.

This simple meal pairs the grilled portobellos with an easy couscous salad. The combination worked very well, both in ease of making (the couscous cooks while the mushrooms grill) and in the resulting mix of flavours and textures.

I used paprika, onion and chilli powders to flavour the meal, along with a dash each of salt, pepper and sugar and some fresh mint leaves. The mint leaves were from our garden, which added to my enjoyment of them! I also added diced carrots and whole snow peas (mange tout) to the couscous. I loved the resulting mix but other vegetables would work well too if you have different things to hand.

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Glazed tofu with red wine vinegar and giant couscous

There are certain ingredients that I always have on hand, or miss dreadfully if I run out. This dish features three of them: red wine vinegar, maple syrup and dried paprika. With dried coriander added to the mix, they made a delicious marinade for this tofu and giant couscous dish.

I always find it satisfying to find a new combination of flavours from staple ingredients. 'New' is of course a loose term, because I have made similar dishes before and no doubt others have combined these flavours in the same or similar ways. Nonetheless, it is rewarding to stand in the kitchen, ponder what to cook, and have your whim-based decisions work out.

This is an easy dish and could also be made with legumes in place of the tofu, or a different grain instead of couscous. It keeps well for leftover lunches and is enjoyable hot or cold.

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Mexican couscous bowl

I'm not sure how a week has passed since I last sat down and opened Blogger. 2016 is certainly proving to be another year where time flies by. It's also hard to believe we're at the end of January!

I was pleased this week to find the time to make vegan lamingtons, in honour of Australia Day last Tuesday. I took a large plate of them to work and they disappeared in a startling fashion. I think I've converted more than a few Londoners to the delights of lamingtons.

With busy days and often long ones too, I've been glad of more easy meals (let's face it, I'm always glad of easy meals). You can make this couscous bowl in hardly any time and it will fuel you through whatever the day throws at you. Unlike most of my bowls, the bulk of the vegetables come separately - mix up a green salad to pair on the side - but you'll still be taking in a mix of vegetables, protein and carbohydrate with every mouthful.

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Giant couscous with greens, sun dried tomatoes, chickpeas and tahini

I'm on a real tahini streak at the moment. My jars of peanut butter and almond butter have been untouched for weeks, but tahini is featuring pretty much daily. I've come to expect this from myself and am sure I'll move on to a different ingredient love soon. For now - tahini it is. As a result, you get to share in a few tahini recipes and today's bowl meal is a savoury counterpart to my tahini chocolate oat balls of last week!

 

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Giant couscous salad with chickpeas, sweet corn, paprika and tomatoes

Have you tried giant couscous? I picked a pack up last weekend after searching fruitlessly for regular couscous in the supermarket. I still don't know where they were hiding the regular sort, but I am glad I was prompted to give this variety a go. It is utterly delicious and (I think) far nicer than regular couscous!

I used the couscous for a simple salad to take to a shared work lunch. In the end, most of our team forgot about the lunch, so it was cancelled and I was left with a large container of this to eat solo. I've spread it over the week and haven't minded at all. In fact, I liked it so much that I plan to make it again for the rescheduled work lunch.

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Orange and almond couscous

Some things are so simple, it's hard to believe they taste as good as they do. Fresh, in-season fruits and vegetables are one such example. I would submit that this dish is another.

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Black eyed beans with couscous and chipotle mango sauce

You may remember that six months ago, Mel of Veganise This! kindly sent me a smoky, flavour-filled package. Her gift included liquid smoke, smoked paprika, chile chipotle powder, and chipotle peppers in adobo sauce. These ingredients have provided me with a lot of kitchen fun, as well as the ability to make her tofu bacon properly. Tofu bacon is still one of my favourite tofu preparation methods, and I can't see myself tiring of it anytime soon.

Recently, chipotle peppers in adobo sauce have become available in Perth. I've now seen them at two separate supermarkets, and this increased availability has allowed me to experiment more with their use. When ingredients are hard to find, and consequently precious, I became very cautious in how I use them. When they can be replaced more readily, I branch out and start putting them in dishes even if I'm not certain how things will turn out.

Last week, I had chipotle peppers to hand, a mango needing to be used, black eyed beans soaked, and an opportunity to make a dinner for myself that wouldn't be eaten by Mr Bite (he was having chicken). The result was one of the nicest meals I have had to date this year.

The base of this meal is simple: couscous, black eyed beans, vegetables, and some pineapple on the side. The key component is definitely the sauce, which incorporates 2 chipotle peppers, some of the adobe sauce in which they came, and fresh mango. It takes the meal from basic to wonderful.

If you like spicy flavours and a bit of heat, I hope you will enjoy this as much as I did!

Black eyed beans with couscous and 

chipotle mango sauce

This sauce can be used with other dishes

Sauce adapted from the chipotle-mango BBQ sauce at Iowa Girl Eats

Serves 4

Vegan

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Ingredients

For the base -

2 cups cooked black eyed beans

1 cup uncooked couscous

2 carrots, finely sliced

1 red capsicum (pepper), finely sliced

1/2 cup chopped pineapple, fresh or tinned (optional, but enjoyable)

For the sauce -

1 medium fresh mango, finely chopped

2 chipotle peppers with 2 tsp adobo sauce

1/2 small onion, peeled and diced

1/2 cup tomato sauce

2 tbsp lemon juice

2 tbsp rice vinegar

1 - 2 tbsp maple syrup

Method

In a large bowl, add 1 cup boiling water to the 1 cup couscous and whisk with a fork. Cover with a tea towl and set aside, fluffing with a fork after 5 minutes.

Roughly chop the chipotle peppers, and then combine all sauce ingredients in a medium saucepan. Cover and bring to boiling point, then reduce heat to low and simmer for approximately 20 minutes, stirring regularly.

While the sauce is simmering, cook the carrots and capsicum in the top half of a vegetable steamer (you could also stir fry them in a non-stick pan, if you don't have a steamer). When the vegetables are nearly cooked, add the black eyed beans to heat them through. Just before serving, add the pineapple to heat this through.

Combine the couscous, black eyed beans, vegetables and pineapple on a plate. Top with the chipotle mango sauce and serve.

I ate this for dinner, and then I ate the leftovers for lunch on consecutive days. I think I could happily have eaten it for lunch and dinner and snacks all in a single day, and only the desire to make it last prevented me from doing so. Mango and chipotle seem to be very good friends, and I think this will be on regular rotation from now on.

I am sending this to Ricki's Wellness Weekend 17th to 21st January 2013.

Do you use chipotle peppers regularly?
What are you like with 'rare' ingredients - do you use them immediately or ration them with caution?

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Christmas food ideas 2012: Bejewelled couscous salad

I have recently re-discovered couscous. It is one of those foods that I eat all the time, and then suddenly eat not at all. There is no real reason behind these alternating extremes. I just seem to forget about it sometimes. Given how easy couscous is to prepare (5 minutes! 5 minutes!), I don't know how the forgetting happens, but I am certainly making up for lost time now.

I made this couscous salad for our final book club gathering for 2012. I couldn't resist putting bejewelled in the title, as the mix of chickpeas, pistachios and cranberries is quite a magical one. Even if you don't like dried fruit in savoury dishes, I recommend making an exception for this. It is Christmas, after all.

This salad can be made ahead of time and I served it cold. I am sure it would also work hot, if that is your preference. It makes a nice side dish and was well received by my mostly non-vegetarian book club friends. I ate the leftovers for lunch, with joy.

I hope it brings you joy, too.

Bejewelled couscous salad

With chickpeas, pistachios and dried cranberries, this is a festive side dish that is very easy to prepare

Serves 8 as a side

Vegan

Print recipe

Ingredients

1 cup couscous

2 cups boiling water

1 large red capsicum (pepper), diced

2 sticks celery, diced

1 1/2 cups cooked chickpeas (1 tin if using tinned)

1/4 cup shelled pistachios (mine were unsalted, salted would probably be fine too)

1/4 - 1/2 cup dried sweetened cranberries, to taste

2 tbsp lemon juice

1 tbsp water

1 tsp maple syrup

Method

In a large bowl, combine the couscous and boiling water and mix with a fork. Cover with a tea towel or lid and allow to stand for 5 minutes.

(Optional: While the couscous is cooking, lightly steam the capsicum using a stove-top steamer or in the microwave. This is optional because the capsicum can be included uncooked.)

When the couscous is cooked, whisk with a fork until fluffy. Stir through the capsicum, celery, cooked chickpeas, pistachios and dried cranberries.

In a small container or jug, combine the lemon juice, extra water and maple syrup. Pour over the couscous and stir well with a spoon or fork.

Refrigerate until needed.

It seems entirely possible that I will be making this again before Christmas.

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On a less festive note, I wanted to note my sadness over the suicide of the London nurse who was on the receiving end of the 'royal prank' initiated at an Australian radio station last week, and at the loss of two surfers off the south of Western Australia. The 22-year-old who is still missing is a friend of my sisters. It is terribly sad. I feel for her and for the boy's family and he and them are in my thoughts.

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I am submitting this to Ricki's Wellness Weekend December 13th - 16th 2012.

How do you feel about couscous? And what about dried fruit in salads / savoury dishes?

Other 2012 Christmas food ideas: Chocolate, almond and goji berry truffle balls.

My 2011 Christmas food posts can be found here. 

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