Cous Cous Salad with Mixed Peppers

It was only when started working on this post did I realize that I am in love with peppers; yes, the red, green and yellow variety. In the last less than a year of me writing this blog, and me cooking/documenting a lot, I have made a lot of dishes with peppers and repeatedly. I am surprised people around me haven’t killed me yet. But then again, maybe, it is the prettiness and varied nature of the peppers and for some, the healthy aspect that prevents us from getting bored. In fact, I also realized, that there are so many recipes that I haven’t even documented, but I guess they will find their way in soon.

Today’s post is Cous Cous with mixed peppers. I have always loved Cous Cous and now, it is a regular on our dinner menu. Couscous is a North African semolina dish that is traditionally served with a stew or accompanied with vegetables. Extremely simple to make and very, very versatile, Cous Cous is available in dried, instant form, and can be cooked and is ready to eat in under 5 minutes. Even though it resembles pasta, it is much and is among the healthiest grain-based products. It has a superior vitamin profile to pasta, and In terms of protein, couscous has 3.6 g for every 100 calories, equivalent to pasta, and well above the 2.6 g for every 100 calories of white rice. Furthermore, couscous contains a 1% fat-to-calorie ratio, compared to 3% for white rice, 5% for pasta etc. (Source: Wikipedia)

Now that I have justified the wonderful qualities of Cous Cous, how about an actual recipe? This is a great summer salad; can be had warm or cold, and variations can be adopted. I served it as an accompaniment to some bread and pasta with mushrooms in white sauce- however, I am sure its a much healthier meal, just by itself.

Hummus and Taboulleh Salad

For vegetarians, Mediterranean food is truly a delight. In my travels across the world, especially around UK and Europe, Good vegetarian food is hard to find, especially if one doesn’t want potatoes. Although I am not a vegetarian, I don’t particularly enjoy seafood and on the contrary, am an extremely happy vegetarian. Very rarely do I complain about being served vegetarian food and quite often, I end up ordering a vegetarian dish for myself. It was during my stay in the UK that I discovered my obsession and love for ‘the mezze food world’ and oh! What a wonderful world it is! A lot of meals outside would end up in Edgware road (the famous place for all mezze food), and even when eating at home, the many varieties of hummus and tahini would always be found in the fridge. Time being a constraint then, cooking from scratch would be difficult. But since the time I have been back, Hummus at home is an easy go. Quite often, if I am eating out, and if there is a mezze platter on the starter menu, I usually cannot resist ordering it.

It had been playing on my mind for a while to try hummus @261, knowing that it would be a wonderful meal or an accompaniment, but since Ak is not a Chickpeas person, I was skeptical. However, since it was the 2 of us for dinner for a couple of months, I decided to go ahead and experiment with Ak’s taste buds. And I was willing to bribe him a bit with a tempting supplement. The menu for the night was Lebanese bread, Hummus, Taboulleh salad and Kebabs as the bribe for Ak. This meant that even if he didn’t like anything, he would at least enjoy the kebabs for the meal. Initially I had planned to make minced meat kebabs at home, but with work at its peak, I decided to go with some readymade shammi-kebabs from the local butcher; they are as fresh as ever and Ak actually loved them, along with the salad.

The Lazy Chicken (Grilled Chicken in garlic and herb sauce)

I have recently discovered how a lot of my posts have this one quote from Ak, which is the motivation behind the post. This is almost always- presumably a good thing, because on numerous occasions, inertia could get the better of me. Today’s was; “Just because it was easy for you, does not make it ‘not worthy’ of a post. I wonder, what is it that makes something worthy of talking about it. This makes me rethink of what this blog is intended to do.

As much as today was a downer day- when a post would have been out of question, with me not feeling well, and not having slept for a few days now, I thought I would do something quick for dinner. Since Workwise, the momentum is at a different pace completely, efficiency has taken a completely new meaning and this, like always, would reflect in my cooking. The dish for today was going to be Grilled Chicken accompanied with some veggies- (grilled, because I wanted a try a new multipurpose grill pan, that I had been recently gifted by a thoughtful aunt, who is aware of my love for new technology in cookware!). The Grilled Chicken Breast has been one of my favourite dishes for over 10 years now. There was a time, when I would blindly order the Grilled Chicken Breast, wherever I went. The recipe below was invented on the go, recreating my memories of a mildly flavoured chicken that is not overdone with spices; the recipe is simple, not too fancy, extremely healthy and a meal by itself, if accompanied with bread and a little salad (optional).  Maple is optional (I love the sweetness it adds), and so is wine. I call it lazy, only because it really takes no effort, and is perfect for a lazy winter night.

p.s. I think it looked appetizing enough for Ak to pour some wine to accompany it J