Tammy's Recipes

Couscous in the middle east is often used as the base for a stew made from chicken, sausage, and vegetables (icluding zucchini, turnips, and garbonzo beans.(It is delicious and I love it!) The stew is very flavorful and has a lot of broth, so the couscous helps tame down the spiciness. Maybe you could try it under beef stew or some other dish that you might normally eat with rice and see if you like it in that context.

We eat couscous at our house regularly. It's always served in place of potatoes, rice, or pasta. Particularly good with steak kabobs or grilled chicken. What I love about it is the pot to table time of 7 minutes flat. I'm not much of a menu planner but this and a green veg from the freezer make me look like I actually gave the meal some thought beyond the protein.

Cous Cous is a type of pasta. In the Middle East it is eaten often. It is usually eaten with some type of stew-like dish. I used to cook a tomato based stew with onions, carrots, potatoes, hummus (chick peas) and either lamb (traditional) or chicken and steam the cous cous over the cooking stew.

We all really like couscous over at our house. I usually cook it in beef or chicken broth to add some flavor and then serve it with some sort of stuff to go over it. Whatever you serve with it needs to be full of flavor to make up for the lack of it in the couscous.

Now this is what I don't like.

It is so messy. I mean especially when the kids eat it. And it's hard to clean up when it's on the floor b/c the grains are so small and sticky. I guess if you leave it on the table/floor until it dries up - it would be easier to sweep up.

I've never tried the whole wheat couscous but would love to.

Couscous is just like pasta crumbs. Yup. I really like it, especially whole wheat. I like mine with cucumbers, chickpeas, and a lemon dressing.

I don't think couscous really adds any extra value to your diet above what you are already eating (expect just variety of shape and appearance.) If you can find it at a good price, you could try quinoa. It is similar in look but quite good for you. It is not wheat, it is another grain entirely.

Hi Tammy

Electricity prices are soaring here in Northern Ireland too. I recently purchased a slow cooker as everyone tells me they are so economical. I tried cooking a whole chicken to-day and the results were fantastic!

Have you ever used your slow cooker for cooking large portions of meat like this?

Regards

I do agree with anon that it is messy when kids eat it - we add yoghurt or creme fraiche to theirs usually. We add boiling water with butter added to the water, leave, stor, and then mix through sauteed veg, like onions, garlic, peppers etc. For us it needs lots of butter or olive oil, seasoning, lovely caramelised veggies....mmmmmm. It's one of Oscar's faves.

Love, Lucy x

i LOVE to roast veggies in the oven, or GRILL them on the grill and toss with couscous, salt, pepper and curry. you can use so many combinations. the list is endless and nutritious! mgorman7

I like cous-cous a lot! I prefer the whole wheat because it's better for you. It has a very bland flavor so I try to add flavor to the dish in another way. The only thing about it is that the grains are so small I find occasionally I can choke a little on it if I'm not paying attention.

We use whole wheat couscous. I usually satuee a mixture of bell peppers and onions and mix into the cooked couscous. It's very nutritious and has lots of dietary fiber, which is excellent.

We eat couscous quite regularly here at our house. I have 2 favorite recipes (easy) that are always requested: Greek couscous and Spicy veggie couscous. Let me know if you want the recipes & I will email them.

Have a great day, Michelle

couscous is a kind of wheat seminola that is rolled into little balls with some water: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Couscous

my favorite couscous dish (although most recipe use bulgur - pretty much the same wheat product) is tabbouleh: a great summer salad with couscous (of course), cucumber, tomatoes, mint, parsley - with a lemon juice and olive oil dressing: http://arabicbites.blogspot.com/2007/11/tabbouleh.html

I had couscous once at a party. It was served cold like a salad with apples, chicken, and a couple other spices and it was SO good.

I've been meaning to get into it.

Tammy, I love couscous. You can add a lot or a little flavoring to it and it cooks up FAST. It's great when I get home from work. It takes some getting used to but I think you should stay with it. I will look up some recipes and send them to you for some variations. Just what you needed.....more recipes but I think you'll enjoy them. :-]

We're not big couscous fans, especially my husband. He doesn't like it at all, so it's hardly ever on the menu here.

Like the others said, couscous is a middle eastern pasta. I've had many varieties -- plain, whole wheat, vegetable, etc. Yes, it's very messy when my kids eat it! I always make it with chicken stock as the liquid -- gives it more flavor. I also add lemon juice, kosher salt, pepper and other spices to suit the dish it will go with.

I'm a bigger fan of Israeli (pearl) couscous because it's a larger grain and not as messy. Hard to find though. I get mine at the Whole Foods Market.

I will also recommend quinoa. It's a terrific ancient grain that is full of protein and other nutrients. It's the only grain that's a complete protein.

We like couscous a lot. In fact, thanks to my sister-in-law, we just tried a new recipe using Couscous & Black Beans tonight. It was wonderful & so easy!

See this link if you want to try it:
http://www.recipezaar.com/21843

Also, because I was curious about the nutrional info, I googled it. Here's what I found:

http://www.bellybytes.com/recipes/couscous.shtml

It actually DOES have protein (3.2 grams per 1 oz.) and fiber as well. It's a complex Carb.

Couscous is ok. We prefer rice in this house.

When I make couscous I use powdered chicken stock, some olive oil, chopped dried apricots and slivered almonds. Makes it quite yummy. I serve it with chickpea (garbanzo bean) curry.

We use whole wheat couscous from our food co-op. Our fave couscous recipe is great for quick fall and winter meals - For 1/2 cup uncooked couscous, put 1 cup apple juice, a handful or two of raisins, and some cinnamon in a sauce pan and bring to a boil. Remove from heat, add couscous, cover, and let sit 5-6 minutes. Fluff with a fork and serve. This gives us three generous servings.

I sometimes use veggie broth instead of water, and add some dried onion flakes, dried minced garlic, basil, and parsley to make a kind of couscous pilaf. We like the apple, cinnamon and raisin version better.

Jenny

I like couscous cooked some ways. I think you need to serve it differently and you might like it. I really did not like it the first time I had it but I realized if it is served right it is pretty good.

We love cous cous in our house. We use the larger variety. Pearly? A basic recipe for our household is:

bellpeppers(any color, but red and yellow are nice), diced
green onion, cut
olive oil (tsp or so)
roasted pine-nuts/pignolias
olive oil
salt

cook the cous cous, stir in ingredients and enjoy. :D

Here's my favourite way to eat couscous. Ahhh it's so delicious! It's a meal in itself.

First, stir 1 1/2 cups couscous into 1 1/2 cups boiling chicken stock, remove from heat, cover and let stand 5 minutes. Meanwhile, cut up some chicken (1 breast or 2 thighs) into small cubes and fry it up with one diced red pepper, a small diced onion, and 2 cloves minced garlic, seasoned with 1 - 2 tsp curry powder, 1/2 - 1 tsp cumin, salt and pepper. Throw a handful (1/2 cup or so) of raisins into the frying pan towards the end so they get warm and get some seasoning on them. Mix this with the couscous, then drizzle a tbsp or two of olive oil over top to kind of hold it together.

- Ashley

you should try quinoa... it is SO good for you, and sort of similar to couscous

You can eat it for breakfast too!
My kids ate some letovers one day with some cooked apples (with brown sugar and cinnamon). They wanted if for breakfast the next day!
-Donna-

The larger couscous that someone was talking about earlier is Israeli couscous. That's what it was called at a restaurant my husband and I ate at this past weekend. They're a little smaller than english peas so if you don't like the "crumbiness" of the small couscous or you prefer rice, you'll probably like the Israeli kind.

This restaurant used it as a bed for Mahi Mahi and it was delicious because it was a good side to soak up the sauce like rice would be. Yum!!!

Also, my husband and I sometimes make up names for new foods to get our kids interested in eating them so one time we made tri-colored couscous and called it Sunshine Rice and the kids ate it up!

My husband hasn't liked it because it is so bland. The recipe with black beans looks good but I'll probably stick to rice and pasta.
Char

Hi Tammy,

i love - love - love your site! I learn so much from you.

Now I feel I finally have something to share with you. Couscous is great with a little chicken broth flavoring (powdered or just use broth instead of water!). It really is a great filler for a meal. You can chop carrots finely and add them with a little parsley. I love to toast some chopped almonds (just a few) and scatter them on top of the cooked Couscous before serving. It really adds a great nutty flavor.

Have fun! A.