This side dish is delicious warm or cold. It has a little bit of spice from the red pepper flakes, but the amount can be easily adjusted to taste. I use Trader Joe’s Israeli Couscous blend which also includes red quinoa, split dried garbanzo beans, and orzo. We ate it with grilled Palestinian chicken and green salad- a gold standard Middle Eastern meal in our house! The recipe was adapted from The New Basics Cookbook by Julee Rosso and Sheila Lukins.
- 1 1/4 cups Israeli couscous
- 1 3/4 cups stock (I used chicken stock)
- 2 T olive oil
- 1 cup diced yellow summer squash (or 1 small)
- 1 cup diced zucchini (or 1 small)
- 1/2 cup diced red onion
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 cup cooked chickpeas (garbanzos)
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin
- 1/2 tsp curry powder (I used sweet curry powder)
- 1/4 to 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
- 1/2 tsp coarse salt, more to taste
- freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
- Bring stock to a boil and then add couscous. Cover and simmer over low heat for 10 minutes, or until all liquid has been absorbed. Remove from heat and let rest for 5 minutes. (Yields 3 cups of cooked couscous.)
- Heat the oil in a large skillet. Add and sauté the squash, zucchini, red onion, and garlic for 5 minutes.
- Stir in the chickpeas and spices. Then gently stir in the cooked couscous. Cook until hot, about 8 minutes.
- Garnish with parsley before serving.
This looks delicious! My brother is gluten-free, so I miss doing couscous – but I would definitely do this recipe and just try using quinoa instead!
I think that it would work well with quinoa- great idea!
This looks delicious! I love the added spice!
I am a big fan of a spicy kick. 🙂
I once fed my husband couscous at home and he asked me if we were having another baby. He felt that it was baby food-mush gush! However, at the Brook Cooks table, he declared it delicious, and wanted to know what it was!!! This recipe IS delicious, and had just the right amount of heat to satisfy everyone. Hooray to the Brook Cook for expanding our horizons!
I don’t know what to say… 🙂
Thank you, my friend!
Very tasty! We enjoyed it warm and then used the leftovers in a salad.
Thank you!! This is a standard side dish in our house! I love the little bit of heat from the red pepper flakes.