I'm not expecting to make it beyond 15, but we'll see.
I had a feeling that this weight-gain would occur, but it's really hard for me to say no to really good dim sum. Especially when one lives in an area where the nearest dim sum place is over 30 miles away, instead of, say, two miles away-- like it is where he lives. If I were to do the trip over again, I still would have eaten too much. I'm a foodie; it is my poison. Alas.
And speaking of food, I remember my real reason for wanting to post today (the secondary effect being that maybe I'll get back into the swing of it)
My mom makes this very yummy couscous salad stuff, and I was wanting to share it with my theoretical readers. (Now that's an amusing thought)
It doesn't really have a name yet, but it is very very yummy. Also, the amount that my "recipe" makes is quite a bit, so if you're needing to make it smaller, then you'll have to down-size it yourself. But I am going to give the full, huge-recipe one first because it kind of is important.
Originally, it's supposed to be made with Toasted Pine Nut seasoned, Near-East couscous only...but after I had steamed my veggies, I realized that I had WAAAAY too many of them, and so I decided to double up somewhat on couscous, and it turned out very very yummy.
Below will be my recipe and instructions, which are actually really easy. This dish only takes like six to ten minutes to make and it's good hot, cold, or in between. My version of the recipe will be just written plainly, but the ingredients my mother uses are just a bit different, so I will include them as substitutions, written in []'s.
What you will need
- 1 box Toasted Pine Nut Near East couscous
- 1 box Original Near East couscous (or any measured out amount of plain couscous, for a smaller batch)
- Chicken stock-- enough to cook the original/plain couscous or both kinds, if you wish, whatever that amount may be. If you don't have or don't want to use stock, then water is fine. I chose to use the stock with the plain kind and used water with the pine nut kind.
- about 1 tsp Garlic powder (for the plain couscous)
- 1 can of dark red kidney beans [OR garbanzo beans/chick peas]
- 1 head of broccoli (less or more if you feel like it)
- 1/8 to 1/4 of a red onion (however much you want. I use about less than an 1/8th because I don't really like the crunch)
- Sundried tomato and basil crumbled feta cheese [OR any kind of regular feta]
- 1 or 2 Tbs Red wine vinegar [OR white wine vinegar]
- 1 or 2 Tbs olive oil
- 1 tsp of sugar (can be adjusted)
- 1 or 2 medium-sized saucepans for the couscous and for water to steam the veggies
- 1 metal steamer-basket for the broccoli and beans
- 1 large bowl for the finished product
- various utensils
Also, because I cooked a lot more broccoli, I was kind of forced to expand the recipe by including the Original couscous, and as such I made the couscous minutes apart, instead of together--which I liked better anyway.
So, in a medium-sized pot, follow the directions on the back of the Pine Nut box. While you're doing that, fill another pot with enough water to steam the broccoli and the beans. Chop up the broccoli and set inside your steam basket. I guess you could boil the veggies...but you can potentially lose nutrients that way, and since we're trying to make this good for you, steaming is probably the better option.
Set the basket into the pan with the water for steaming. If you've never done this before, make sure the water line in the pot isn't higher than the bottom of the basket. That kind of ruins things. Anyway. Put a lid on the steamer pot and wait for them to steam. Another thing, the beans may get done quicker, so you may want to wait just a few minutes to add them in with the broccoli. So, with that in mind, open up your can of kidney beans, drain the liquid as best as you can, then add the contents of the can to the basket as well. While you do the next bits below, don't forget about these veggies!
Now, back to the couscous. I guess you could make both batches of couscous together, but it may be harder to fluff afterward, so if you have the time, combining them later may be better. If you don't have the time, then together would be okay. I can't really remember the directions at the moment, but once it's done and you've let it rest, then fluffed it, dump it into your large bowl and start the next batch.
Again, follow the directions on the box, but with the plain kind, add in about 1 tsp of garlic powder for extra flavor, and use chicken stock instead of water. When it's done, rested, and then fluffed, dump it in with the pine nut couscous and mix it up.
Somewhere during the couscous bits above, your veggies will probably reach the perfect color and doneness that you want for good veggies. You're looking for peak color. When the broccoli is the bright green, it's probably done. You don't want them mushy and dull. With the beans, you really need to watch out for the skins. If they get too done, the skins will start to pull away. And you really don't want that.
Once the veggies are done, dump them in with the couscous. Now is when you can add however much chopped, red onion and feta you desire. Also, you're going to mix up the dressing. Again, this can vary. Because of my double batch, I used about 1 1/2 Tbs of both the red wine vinegar and the olive oil with about 1 and 1/2 tsp of sugar. Mix it all up, then carefully and slowly drizzle it over the couscous. It may be a good idea to drizzle a bit and then mix, then drizzle and mix, to allow for even distribution.
That's all. Serve it hot or cold, it's always delicious. In fact, I'm going to be making it for some friends come Monday.
I'll update again when I've worked off the dim sum/ramen/pho/wingstop and whatnot from my trip.
