Couscous Pilaf with Chick peas, Raisins, Cumin and Cinnamon
2 cups instant couscous
2 cups water
1/4 cup olive oil
1 large onion, minced
2 med. carrots, peeled and diced
2 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
1 large can chick peas, drained
1/3 cup dark seedless raisins
1/3 cup chopped fresh parsely or mint
salt to taste
2 tablespoon margarine (optional)
Bring water and 1 tbs. olive oil to a rolling boil. Add couscous,
cover and turn off heat. Let stand until water is absorbed, about
5 min. Add margarine and fluff with a fork.
Heat remaining olive oil in a medium skillet and saute onions and
carrots for 5-7 minutes. Add cumin, cinnamon, and cayenne and stir
in skillet for one minute.
Combine couscous with remaining ingredients in a large bowl, season
with salt and serve, either warm or at room temperature.
SO HOW'D IT GO?
We followed the recipe but subbed mock duck for the chickpeas, skipped the margarine, and added some roasted/salted pistachios at the end. I agree that it needed some moisture, and I'll try maybe a little more broth next time. The cumin/cinnamon mixture was SPECTACULAR, though, and one I would not have thought of myself. Thanks for this great base recipe -- I'll use and adapt it a lot!
Fantastic blend of spices. I found that using the correct amount of oil and a tad of buttery stick at the end the moisture was perfect. (Just follow the directions and it comes out great!!!) Definately a new favorite! The only thing I substituted was some old zuchini instead of the carrots (I didn't have any).
hmm, this was all right. it definitely has moisture issues. I did leave out the margarine, which would have helped. I put water and the juice of one orange in during the saute part and added the orange zest to the couscous. I also added toasted almonds, sesame seeds, quite a bit of balsalmic vinegar, and a bit of maple syrup. I'd like to add more veggies - maybe celery, bell pepper, broccoli florets. however, I doubt I'll make this exact recipe again because it really needs a dressing to make it moist enough. not a bad lunch, though.
Oh yeah, and I added 4 cloves of minced garlic...because EVERY recipe needs garlic!! :-)
Pretty yummy! In all honesty, I did deviate from the recipe quite a bit, but I'm sure the original is just as good. In addition to the specified 2 cups of couscous, I added about 1.5 cups already-cooked, reheated garlic-and-olive oil couscous to the mix (gotta use up those leftovers!). I used shredded instead of diced carrots (all I had on hand), and I think I liked that better anyway. I ended up using 2.5 times the amount of each seasoning because of the extra couscous and because I like food with lots of flavor. I used dried cranberries instead of raisins because that's all I could get at the store, and again, I think I liked it better. Forced to use dried parsley (eww, I know, but again it's all I had). Used a 20-oz can of chickpeas. I added the juice of 1/2 lemon and 1 tbsp of red wine vinegar (although I think balsamic would have been ideal) - it definitely needed the moisture. I had tried to cut down on the amount of oil, but ended up adding it back in the end because it was dry. At the table, I sprayed it with Liquid Aminos, which is exactly what it needed - next time, I think I will just use Liquid Aminos instead of salt altogether. I think Karen's idea of adding walnuts is a good one - pine nuts would be good too, if you can afford them. It was very quick and easy and inexpensive, so I will be making this again, I am sure - plus, there is so much leftover, yay! :-)
this was super tasty! i ended up adding lemon juice and balsamic vinegar in the end. i also used mint AND parsley. mmmm