Green Couscous with Arugula

A few evenings ago, my husband and son were at a swim meet and I was home with my picky-eating daughter. I had tons of beautiful CSA arugula all to myself! 🙂 (It is my favorite!) Initially, I was going to just eat it as a giant salad for dinner, but this seemed much more special. I quadrupled the amount of arugula in this dish. Healthy & delicious- as a vegetarian entree or a side dish. This recipe was adapted from Plenty: Vibrant Vegetable Recipes from London’s Ottolenghi by Yotam Ottolenghi. I am bringing this to share with my arugula loving friends for Fiesta Friday #25 at the Novice Gardener. Have a great weekend!

Yield: Serves 4

• 1 cup whole wheat couscous
• 3/4 cup boiling water or vegetable stock
• 1 small yellow onion, thinly sliced
• 1 T olive oil
• 1/4 tsp coarse salt
• 1/4 tsp ground cumin

For the Herb Paste:

• 1/3 cup chopped parsley
• 1 cup chopped cilantro
• 2 T chopped tarragon
• 2 T chopped dill
• 2 T chopped mint
• 4 T olive oil

To complete the dish:

• 1/2 cup roasted, salted pistachios, roughly chopped
• 3 green onions, finely sliced
• 1 jalapeño, finely sliced
• 4-5 cups arugula leaves, roughly chopped
• 3-4 oz feta cheese, crumbled

1. Place the couscous in a large bowl and cover with the boiling water or stock. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and leave for 10 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, fry the onion in the olive oil on medium heat until golden and completely soft. Add the salt and cumin and mix well. Leave to cool slightly.
3. To make the herb paste. Place all the ingredients in a food processor and blitz until smooth.
4. Add the herb paste to the couscous and mix everything together well with a fork to fluff it up.
5. Add the cooked onion, pistachios, green onions, jalapeño, arugula, and feta. Gently mix. Serve at room temperature.

One Year Ago:

• Summer Vegetable & Nectarine “Ceviche”

Saffron Pappardelle with Moroccan Spiced Shallot-Butter Sauce

We have been pappardelle crazy in my household lately– we can’t eat enough of it!! The original recipe had instructions to make saffron tagliatelle but I opted to put saffron threads in my pappardelle cooking water. This shortcut added a surprising amount of flavor – and color- to the noodles. Great! The spiced shallot-butter sauce was spicy and loaded with flavor. This recipe was adapted from Plenty: Vibrant Vegetable Recipes from London’s Ottolenghi by Yotam Ottolenghi. I omitted the mint and made half of the suggested amount of sauce (I wasn’t baking… I couldn’t use 2 sticks of butter!). I am a sauce lover and the noodles were completely coated in delicious sauce; the reduced amount was perfect. A wonderful and quick weeknight meal!

Yield: Serves 6 to 8

• 1 pound of egg pappardelle or tagliatelle
• 1 large pinch of saffron threads
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
• 2 T extra-virgin olive oil
• 4 large shallots, finely chopped in a food processor
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp sweet paprika
• 1/2 tsp ground coriander
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/4 tsp chile flakes
• 1/4 tsp ground turmeric
• 1/2 tsp coarse salt, or more, to taste
• freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 2/3 cup pine nuts, toasted
• 1/2 cup roughly chopped parsley (alternatively, 1/4 cup mint and 1/4 cup parsley can be used)

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.
2. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Toast the pine nuts for 2-3 minutes, or until fragrant and light brown in color.
3. Make the Moroccan Spiced Butter: Place the butter and oil in a frying pan and add the shallots. Cook the shallots gently for about 10 minutes, or until they soften and the butter turns slightly brown. Add all of the spices, salt, and pepper. Remove from the heat and keep warm.
4. Add a large pinch of saffron threads to the salted boiling water. Cook the pasta in the water according to package instructions. Drain and return to the saucepan.
5. Pour the spiced butter over the pasta and stir well. Sprinkle with parsley and pine nuts and gently incorporate. Serve.

One Year Ago:

• Baked Shells with Cauliflower and Taleggio or Baked Orecchiette with Cauliflower and Fontina

 

Baked Eggs with Arugula, Yogurt & Chili

My first Golden Earthworm CSA share of the season was delivered this week with a HUGE bunch of gorgeous arugula. Arugula is probably my favorite item in my box. So exciting! 🙂

This recipe for baked eggs with sautéed arugula was posted on the Golden Earthworm Organic Farm website, from Ottolenghi’s ‘Plenty’  cookbook. Because I LOVE sauces, I wanted to try it– even though it meant cooking my arugula (we usually eat it raw) and using all of my arugula for one meal! This dish has garlicky yogurt and chili-paprika-sage butter “sauces”. I modified it (below) by using more garlic and less butter and sage. It was a quick dinner with unusual flavors.

Serves 2

• 4 large eggs
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 bunch Arugula
• 1/2 cup Greek yogurt
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1/2 tsp kirmizi biber* (or a mix of 1/4 tsp chili flakes + 1/4 tsp sweet paprika)
• 2 tbsp unsalted butter
• 4 sage leaves, shredded
• salt and freshly ground pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 300°F.
2. Place the rocket and olive oil in a large pan and sprinkle over a little salt. Sauté on a medium heat for a few minutes, until the rocket wilts and most of the liquid has evaporated.
3. Transfer to a small baking dish (or leave in the pan, if ovenproof) and make four deep indentations in the cooked rocket. Carefully break an egg into each hollow, lightly season with salt and pepper, then place in the preheated oven to cook for 10-15 minutes, or until whites are set. 
4. While the eggs are baking make your garlic yogurt and chili butter. First, stir the garlic through the yoghurt and season generously with salt. Set aside.
5. In a small saucepan, melt the butter then add a pinch of salt and the kirmizi biber (or chilli flakes and paprika) and fry for a couple of minutes until the butter starts to foam and take on a golden red hue. Add the sage and cook for a few more seconds. Remove from heat. 
6. When your eggs are ready to your liking, take them out of the oven. Spoon on a large dollop of garlicky yogurt and pour over the hot chili butter. Serve immediately.

* a spice with a sweet aroma and varying levels of spiciness, can be found in Turkish grocers