Italian Couscous and Weekend Scenes

Recipe challenge, week sixteen.

What a close call.

I almost didn't have a recipe for today.  I made this yesterday and packaged it up to take for lunch this week.

I first discovered Israeli (Pearl) Couscous at Trader Joe's in Los Angeles a few years ago.  I stuffed my TJ's dry goods into my suitcase and made it once I was back in Alaska.  I did this with it back then.  Adding the pesto makes it extra rich.

I really just love the texture of the pearl couscous.  Sometimes I buy it in the bulk bins (I used to get it at Fred Meyer, now I'll get it at Whole Foods), and this time I just bought a box at Trader Joe's.  It's less than $2 and is the great base for a vegetarian dinner.  Onion, zucchini, or peppers could all be sauteed and added in. A meatless Monday, perhaps?  Also, this is the perfect use for that pesto you made last week.  I mean, I made last week.  I hope you made it too.

Italian Couscous
serves 4-6 as a side dish

1 box pearl couscous (or 2 cups, dry)
1 3/4 cups water or chicken stock
12-15 cherry or grape tomatoes, halved or quartered
2 cloves garlic, very thinly sliced
Olive oil
1/4 cup prepared pesto
1/2 cup shredded parmesan or mozzarella cheese
Salt and pepper to taste
Fresh herbs for garnish (optional)

Coat the bottom of a large frying pan with oil.  Add the sliced garlic and tomatoes.  Cook until the garlic just starts to brown.  Remove to a plate. Add in the dry couscous.  Coat it with olive oil and toast until it's lightly browned. Add in the water or chicken stock.  Cook and stir over medium heat until all the water is absorbed.  It takes about 10 minutes.

Add the tomatoes and garlic back in and then stir in the pesto.  Top with cheese and herbs.  Add salt/pepper if needed.

--------------------------------------------------------

My weekend passed uneventfully.  Honestly, most are uneventful right now.  But that's okay.  I have a job that requires me to talk and be "on" all day long, so I welcome the break to just be.

I got a haircut.  This is a whole long story thing.  I'll probably explain later in the week because this was indeed the only exciting part of my weekend. 

Except for the hailstorm.  Scout, in the aftermath.  

The cloud that dropped the hail, moving onto Colorado Springs.

I'm reading Better Than Before by Gretchen Rubin.  It is fantastic and I'm moving slowly through it because I'm marking pages and highlighting passages.  Highly recommend. 

Things I didn't do include grade papers or clean the bathrooms. 

Basil-Oregano Pesto

We have a random Monday off of school today, so you'll hear no complaints from me.  I need to finish my midterm grades and take the dogs somewhere.  I was thinking one of the nicer dog parks in town since it shouldn't be crowded on a Monday.  Also, I got to sleep in. And I'm still trying to decide what I want to order from Minted.  Something for the dining room wall, maybe?

Recipe challenge, week fifteen.

I have this theory that heaven smells like fresh basil.  I mean, it has to, right?  It wouldn't make sense if it didn't.  The smell of fresh basil is sweet and earthy and absolutely intoxicating.  I've never succeeded at growing my own basil but I've tried 4 years in a row.  That's the no green thumb issue I guess.

I'm fortunate that we live near a Trader Joe's because they have fantastic prices on tubs of fresh basil.  It's like $3 for a tub.  A tub!  Also, at the farmer's market in Old Colorado City in the summer: giant bunches of it for just a couple of dollars.  Perfect for bruschetta and pizza.

Also fortunately, I'm never at a loss for what to do with extra fresh basil.  It'd be a shame to let it go bad, so I make it into pesto.

This is my pesto recipe.  I've combined ideas from other recipes and just kind of figured out what works for me.  This is cheaper than pure basil and pine nut pesto, and it has the extra bonus of the nutrients you get from spinach.  On this day, I had some fresh oregano in the crisper from making this marinara sauce so I added that to the food processor.  Very tasty.

Here's the ingredients:

Of note:

This basil isn't from TJ's. It was more than $3 and was from Safeway but that's what I had. 

You need citrus.  I had no lemon, so I used lime and I couldn't tell a difference.

I use pecans or walnuts, depending on what I have on hand.  Pine nuts are too expensive for my taste.

I use shredded parmesan because blocks of parmesan are also too expensive for my taste. 

I did use that whole bag of spinach.

Basil-Oregano Pesto

makes about 3 cups

2 cups loosely packed basil leaves

2-3 tablespoons fresh oregano leaves

1 10 oz. bag fresh spinach

1 clove garlic

1 handful pecans, walnuts, or pine nuts

1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese

1 T. fresh lemon or lime juice

Olive oil

Sea salt, to taste

In a food processor, put in the basil, oregano, garlic, citrus juice, and half the spinach.  Pulse until blended.  

Add the nuts.  Blend again.

Add the cheese.  Blend again.  Then add the rest of the spinach and stream in the olive oil while blending until it comes together.  

I also freeze this in containers or freezer bags, but I serve it with noodles (or on pizza) with extra cheese.