Couscous, It's A Funny Word

I started making couscous for the vegan in the house, he likes it, so I thought I would give it a try too.  Couscous is made from semolina wheat, and is cooked by steaming it, which makes it a fast and easy dish to prepare.  I roasted fresh mixed vegetables in the oven and tossed them with the couscous for his meal the other night.  And well to my surprise, couscous is going to be a favorite of mine too!  It's light, and mixed with the vegetables it's a meal all in itself. 

I started looking into what else I could do with these teeny tiny little grains of pasta, basically that's what it is.  While searching around, I found that you can eat it hot or cold, mix it with fruits and nuts, make a salad with it or toast it for a more crunchy texture.  These are just a few ideas, be creative with it, it's versitile.

There are some different kinds of couscous out on the market.  Moroccan, the tiny grained couscous, Iraeli couscous is a small peppercorn size couscous and Lebanese couscous is a larger pea sized couscous, these three are just a few.

You can steam couscous in water or chicken, beef or vegetable stock.  I used vegetable stock for this version of Couscous with Roasted Vegetables.  For each cup of dry couscous you are cooking, use 1 1/2 cups of water or stock.  Bring the water or stock to a boil in a pan, add 1 tablespoon of butter, if you like.  Pour in the couscous, stir, remove from heat and cover with a lid.  Let it sit for 5 minutes.  Fluff with a fork. I squeezed in juice of a lemon and tossed in 2 tablespoons fresh chopped parsley along with my vegetables.  

I used fresh green beans, red, yellow and green peppers, green and yellow zucchini and carrots.  The vegan likes his veggies chunky so that's how I made them,  he feels like he is eating more that way, go figure.  Drizzle a little olive oil onto a baking sheet, toss on the veggies, drizzle with a little more olive oil, 2 cloves chopped garlic, salt, pepper, oregano and fresh parsley.  Bake in a preheated 400 degree oven for 20 -25 minutes.

My couscous is done and tossed with my vegetables.  It was so delicious, the vegan asked if there was any leftover for his midnight snack, was he joking?  There wasn't any of this leftover!

Rigatoni With Roasted Vegetables

I was in a time crunch after painting all day AND I forgot to take something out for dinner.  What was I going to make.  Pasta is always a good choice, it's fast, easy and you can do so many things with it.  I had a whole refrigerator full of fresh vegetables so I used them up and made this fantastic roasted veggie mix for the pasta.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Get a large pot of salted water going on the stove for the pasta.  I used red and yellow grape tomatoes, yellow squash, zucchini,  a red onion and red and green peppers.  I left the tomatoes whole, cut the squash and the zucchini in half and slice into 1/2 inch slices, quarter the red onion then cut in half, cut peppers into small chunks.  Put all the veggies on a large baking sheet, add two tablespoons of fresh minced garlic, two tablespoons of fresh sliced basil, 2 teaspoons of  fresh thyme, 2 teaspoons of kosher salt, 1 teaspoon of fresh cracked pepper and  drizzle on 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil. Toss it all together, into the oven and bake for 20 minutes.  When water is boiling, add pasta and stir.

Take out, stir them up and return to oven for another 20 minutes. They should be slightly browned and caramelized at this point.  Remove from oven.    

 Toss those scrumptious veggies with your drained pasta and serve with fresh grated Locatelli cheese. Good fast food, that's good for you!

It's a Roast!

I usually do not cook a roast of  beef  until Fall and Winter, this kind of meal fits those two seasons.  The meal just warms the heart when you eat it, it's a stick to your ribs kind of meal and very satisfying.  My mother taught me how to make a tender and juicy beef roast a long time ago, and I still make it "her way".  It's always a favorite at my dinner table.  Recipe below.

I used a chuck roast for this recipe, but any roast of beef will do.  The cheapest cut of beef will be tender.  Season with salt and pepper and sear in olive oil on both sides.  

Add carrots, celery and onions.  All roasted up and half eaten already!  I served my roast with Yukon gold mashed potatoes and homemade gravy.

And don't forget the Wondra to make the no-lump  gravy!

Roast Beef with Roasted Vegetables

Ingredients
2 Tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper
1 tsp garlic powder
1 - 2 to 3 lb roast of beef, I used a chuck roast
1 cup of water
2 tsp Kitchen Bouquet Browning Sauce
2 Tbsp of vegetable flakes
2 stalks of celery, cut on the diagonal, in 2 inch pieces
2 cups of carrots, I used bagged fresh carrots
1 whole onion, peeled and quartered

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Pour the oil into a dutch oven, and heat on medium high.  I use a cast iron dutch oven, if you don't have one, use a heavy lidded pan or a roasting pan that can go into the oven. Season the beef with the salt, pepper and garlic powder. Sear the beef in the hot oil on both sides until browned. Turn off the heat and add the water, browning sauce, vegetable flakes, celery, carrots and onion.   Put a lid on the roasting pan and put into the oven.  Roast for 2 1/2 hours. When ready to serve remove the beef and vegetables from the pan to a serving platter and cover with foil.  Make the gravy.

Gravy Recipe 
Pan drippings from the beef
2 Tbsp Gold Medal Wondra Quick Mixing Flour
1/4 water

Place the pan with the beef drippings on medium heat on top of the stove.  Mix the flour with the water, and gradually stir into the beef drippings.  Stir constantly and scrape up any bits from the bottom of the pan. Heat for about 2 minutes until boiling.  Makes about 1 cup of gravy.

TIP: You can also roast potatoes in the pan.  Just cut and quarter 6 potatoes and put in the pan with the other vegetables.  Everything roasted in the pan together makes the flavor so good!