Chickpea Couscous Salad

When I get back home from classes, it's usually 12:45 p.m. and I am starving. I try to have a snack between breakfast and lunch, but I'm not a fan of eating in class as it can be distracting. I'm not always in the mood to make something complicated for lunch because I just want food in my stomach. Something really simple that can be put together in minutes is what I like on those late-lunch days.

This is when couscous comes in handy. Couscous is ready in 5 minutes and you can be preparing other things while waiting. I knew that all the chopping of the vegetables would not be done in a quick five minutes for me, so I did that the night before so all I had to do when I got home was make the couscous and toss everything together. I love all the refreshing vegetables in this salad and the chickpeas! The feta adds a nice creamy texture to every bite. I didn't put in as much olive oil as listed because I'm not an oil fan and the salad tastes fine as is. Also, you don't have to use boxed couscous. I always buy couscous in bulk at Whole Foods (my favorite part of the whole store) so I just used 3/4 cup of dry couscous to replace the box.



Couscous Salad with Feta and Chickpeas [Makes 6 servings]
From Ezra Pound Cake

- 1 box flavored couscous (garlic or Parmesan), cooked (recommended: Near East)
- 1 can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
- 1 red bell pepper, finely chopped
- 1/2 Vidalia or red onion, chopped
- 1 English cucumber, peeled, seeded, and finely chopped
- 1 tomato, chopped
- 1/4 cup fresh parsley leaves, chopped
- 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 2 to 3 limes, juiced

1. In a large bowl, toss all the ingredients with the olive oil and lime juice, to taste.

Couscous Paella

Rice is a staple in a Korean's diet so I used to eat it with breakfast, lunch, and dinner. As I started to eat dishes besides Korean ones, rice was becoming less of a main character and pretty soon it was out of the picture. Not every meal required it as a side dish and maybe it's because I've eaten it my whole life but sometimes I prefer to eat something more interesting, such as barley, couscous, and bulgur (my favorite!). But I fall into the old habit of eating grains as a side dish. That leads to monotony for me and I end up turning to bread. Fortunately, I recently got my hands on this cookbook, Grains by Good Housekeeping (which is currently unavailable on Amazon). Grains in casseroles, soups, burgers, and dessert! I decided Couscous Paella should be next on my must-make list.

The original recipe calls for chicken and kielbasa. But I thought I would go the seafood route. My mom buys a bag of a frozen mix, which contains squid, mussels, and octopus, so I used that. I love seafood, so this recipe is already off to a good start. Second thing I love about this recipe is the couscous. Couscous is awesome. Boil some water or broth, pour in the couscous, cover with a lid, wait 10 minutes or so and you're done! So easy to make. So while you're cooking the veggies and the seafood, the couscous is cooking and by the time you're done, so is the couscous! Nothing but the veggies to worry about. No boiling or simmering to watch.



Lastly, the result is beautiful. So many different colors of vegetables that it pleases my eyes. And then my stomach :)

Couscous Paella [Makes 2 really generous servings, or 3]
Adapted from Grains! by Good Housekeeping

- about 1 cup broth
- 2/3 cup dry couscous
- 1 cup frozen peas and carrots mix
- 1/2 bell pepper
- 1 cup frozen seafood mix (could always use more, I just decided for less this time)
- 1 clove garlic
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp dried thyme
- 1/8 tsp ground black pepper
- 3/4 cup diced tomatoes

1. In a saucepan, bring the broth to a boil. Pour in the couscous and peas and carrots mix, remove pan from heat, cover and let stand until ready to use.
2. In a skillet, cook bell pepper until tender. Add seafood mix, garlic, salt, thyme and black pepper. Cook until the seafood is heated through about 5 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes and cook for a few minutes. If there is liquid, cook until most of it evaporated.
3. In a large bowl, combine the prepared couscous and seafood mixture and toss gently.