Ugh, I have barely been cooking lately. Ben’s been working or at meetings a lot of evenings, and we’ve only been averaging a real dinner about once a week. Not good. I miss the casual “come on over for dinner” atmosphere of Hanover, which motivated me to try new recipes!
Anyway, one night last week we grilled some frozen tuna that I wanted to get out of the freezer, and since I hadn’t really grocery shopped in ages (aside from picking up coffee and milk) I pulled together sides from what I had on hand. I made my old carrot salad again, but this time with an asian-inspired dressing of rice vinegar, sesame oil, plain oil and a bit of chili sauce. I thought it was a great change of pace, but Ben wasn’t an enormous fan the first night. When he ate leftovers a couple days later he loved it and asked if I’d made a new batch, so who knows.
Ben requested israeli cous cous as a side, but I was bored just thinking about serving it plain. (Can you tell I have cabin fever and a terrible case of ennui?) I dug around in the freezer and found a bag of frozen shelled edamame, which I threw in with the cous cous to cook. After those were cooked and drained I dressed the whole pot with more sesame oil, salt and pepper, and was delighted by the combination. Crazy easy–no more trouble than the plain cous cous, but a bit of added color and protein.
Yum!
I am MAD about israeli cous cous! Your version with edamame sounds delicious, and I’m always looking to ad more protein to my food! Thanks, Doll!
I was so disappointed a couple of months ago when I went to a restaurant Where I always enjoyed the israeli cous cous – only to find that they changed the recipe by adding CANNED garbanzo beans to it!!! It was a soggy mess! What the?
Will try your way tonight. You never steer me wrong!
Hi Kate– I miss NYC too! And I have been in a slight funk as well– all made more poignant by my recent trip to Los Angeles where it was 70 degrees asnd sunny. It is amazing how much better I feel in the sun even though I am so fair.
So, we went to Lucques went we were in LA, and my friend’s father made one of Suzanne Goin’s dishes the next night which is served with israeli couscous couscous. Sadly, I wasn’t at the meal but she said that it was one of the most delicious things she has ever eaten. Maybe you want to try it when feeling particularly adventurous (there are alot of components). Here is the recipe:
http://www.cookstr.com/recipes/braised-chicken-with-saffron-onions-italian-couscous-and-dates
Germi- What did you think? And WHEN is your site going live?? I miss you.
Juree- Jealous jealous jealous of your trip to Lucques. I’ll investigate Goin’s couscous–a lot of her sides aren’t so hard if you don’t make the main dish they go with!
Chin up; spring is coming if it hasn’t arrived yet in PDX; meanwhile back East we have at least another month or two! My mom says the sugar snap peas are great right now…