Nutrition with a Twist: Late Nights and Couscous

couscous, originally uploaded by Juan I. Cubilla.

Have the basic rules for eating healthier got you stuck in a rut? Each week, The Health and Life Mixing Bowl will serve up some good stuff to expand your nutritional options and perhaps ignite a genuine interest in eating better.  Read more about these posts here.

I was introduced to couscous while attending graduate school at The American University in Washington, DC.   I worked during the day and took classes at night.  Back then, cooking dinner after a 16-hour day was tantamount to sleeping on a bed of nails.  Luckily, I found a great little restaurant on Capitol Hill that had a wonderful selection of healthy take-home meals.   After a late night class, I would stop by the restaurant to grab their curried couscous thus beginning my love affair with this teeny-weeny pasta.  Seventeen years later, my family's taste buds are more accustomed to couscous than rice.  Couscous is also the main ingredient in several of my favorite one dish meals. Couscous is very easy to prepare (five minutes in the microwave), is extremely versatile and is an atheistically pleasing way to infuse a little Mediterranean flavor into an otherwise boring dish.  I use whole wheat couscous every chance I get.  More fiber!

Here is an easy couscous dish I found on the Fantastic World Foods website. You can find a few more twists for couscous there.

Couscous with Almonds

Ingredients:
2 cups Organic Whole Wheat Couscous (100% Organic)
1 1/4 cup red onion, diced
1 red or gold bell pepper, diced
2 1/4 cups water or broth
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 ounces arugala, mache or baby spinach
3/4 cup roasted almonds, chopped
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/3 cup fig vinegar
1/4 cup honey

Yield: 6

Directions: Heat the oil in a wide bottomed pan and saute the onion and bell pepper for about five or six minutes. Add the water and salt and bring to the boil. Stir in the cous cous, mix well, remove from the heat and cover the pan. Let sit for 5 minutes. Remove the lid, stir in an additional 1/2 cup cold water and turn the cous cous out into a big bowl. Fluff with a fork and let sit.
While the cous cous is cooking, whisk together the olive oil, vinegar and honey.

You can serve the cous cous warm or at room temperature. When ready to serve, toss the cous cous with the arugala, or other greens, and the vinaigrette. Mound the mixture on a platter and garnish with the chopped almonds and serve.

Enjoy!