As I believe I've mentioned that I made a New Year's resolution to myself to make at least one new recipe every week. This usually means that on Sunday, when I'm making up my weekly menu (yes, I actually do that), I end up flipping through one of my cookbooks for something that I haven't made before and that sounds intriguing. So recently, I was flipping through Better Homes and Garden 365 Vegetarian Meals and came across this recipe. I thought it sounded interesting, and worth a try. I ended up being happy with how it came out. I wasn't expecting couscous to go well with a Mexican-flavored salsa, but it did! This is a nice, light meal and great for summer. It has a couple components to it, so bear with me.
Recipe
Makes 4 servings
1/2 cup whole wheat couscous
2 tablespoons whole wheat flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teapsoon salt
1 egg
3/4 cup buttermilk or sour fat-free milk*
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 recipe Black Bean Salsa
Nonstick cooking spray
*To make 3/4 cup sour fat-free milk, place 2 teaspoons lemon juice or vinegar in a glass measuring cup. Add enough fat-free milk to make 3/4 cup total liquid; stir. Let stand for 5 minutes before using.
1. In a medium bowl combine uncooked couscous, whole wheat flour, baking soda, and salt. In a small bowl beat egg with a fork. Stir in buttermilk and oil. Stir buttermilk mixture into couscous mixture. Let stand for 20 minutes (batter will thicken as it stands).
2. Meanwhile, prepare Black Bean Salsa; set aside. Preheat oven to 200 degree F.
Black Bean Salsa: In a medium bowl stir together 3/4 cup frozen whole kernel corn, thawed; half of a 15-ounce can black beans (3/4 cup), rinsed and drained; 3/4 cup salsa; 1/2 cup chopped, peeled jicama; 1 tablespoon snipped fresh cilantro; 1 tablespoon lime juice; and 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin.
3. Lightly coat an unheated griddle or large nonstick skillet with cooking spray. Preheat over medium heat. For each cake, spoon 2 slightly rounded tablespoons of the couscous batter onto the hot griddle or into the skillet; quickly spread to 3 1/2-inch cakes. Cook about 4 minutes or until brown, turning once halfway through cooking or when bottoms are lightly brown and edges are slightly dry. Remove bean cakes from griddle or skillet. Keep warm in oven while cooking remaining cakes.
4. To serve, top couscous cakes with Black Bean Salsa.
I was looking for something different to enjoy, so when I was looking through my Vegetarian: Tasty Recipes for Every Day book and found this recipe for couscous patties, I decided to give them a shot.
the recipe
Makes 4
1 cup couscous
4 tablespoons oil
1 eggplant, finely diced
1 onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons ground coriander
1 red capscium
2 tablespoons chopped fresh coriander
2 teaspoons grated lemon rind
2 teaspoons lemon juice
5 tablespoons natural yogurt
1 egg, lightly beaton
oil, for shallow-frying
1. Place the couscous in a bowl. Add 1 cup of boiling water and leaves for 10 minutes or until all the water has been absorbed. Fluff up the grains with a fork.
2. Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a large frying pan and fry the eggplant until soft and golden, then place in a bowl. Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in the pan. Add the onion, garlic, cumin and ground coriander. Cook over medium heat for 3-4 minutes, or until soft, then add to the bowl. Heat the remaining oil and cook the capsicum for 5 minutes, or until soft. Place in the bowl and stir well.
3. Add the vegetable mixture to the couscous with the fresh coriander, lemon rind, lemon juice, yogurt and egg. Season to taste and mix well.
4. Using damp hands, divide the mixture into four portions and form into large patties-they should be about 3/4 inch thick. Cover and refrigerate for 15 minutes. Shallow-fry the patties over medium heat for 5 minutes on each side, or until golden. Drain the patties well and serve with yogurt.
substitutions
I've got a lot for this one:
-I'm not a big eggplant fan. I chopped up a tomato instead.
-I did not have red capsicum, and I'm not even going to pretend that I know what that is.
-I did not have lemon rind.
-I did not have fresh coriander, and decided not to compensate for that with the ground coriander. It's a strong flavor.
-I used Greek yogurt for the natural yogurt. It's what I had, and it worked fine.
great with
As the end of the recipe suggested, I had one of these patties with a small helping of yogurt, along with a salad.
the review
I liked these. Even a fan of couscous (which I am) must admit that on occasion, plain couscous can be just a little bit too plain. I wouldn't have thought of couscous as a medium to mix all of these ingredients and flavors, but it definitely worked. And I was surprised--the patties actually held together quite well. I wasn't expecting them to be so easy to form together. I would definitely recommend these if you like couscous, coriander and cumin.
