Food Stamp Challenge Recipes: Tunisian Couscous

Late in the Food Stamp month I found and adapted this terrific recipe from an old-old gem of a book called Bean Banquets, from Boston to Bombay: 200 International, High-Fiber, Vegetarian Recipes. Really delicious, and it’s a recipe that makes a huge amount, good for several lunches and dinners. NOTE that you have to cook up the chickpeas before you can begin (see step 1).

3/4 pound dried chickpeas (garbanzo beans)
2 onions, chopped
2 large cloves garlic, minced
2 T butter
2 T olive oil
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp turmeric
1 tsp ground coriander
1 28-oz can roasted diced tomatoes
3 large carrots, scrubbed and cut into discs
1 large green pepper (or poblano, or 2 anaheims) chopped
2 medium zucchini, halved lengthwise then sliced
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp hot sauce
1 T lemon juice
2 cups couscous (dry)
4 cups vegetable broth (make your own by simmering veggie scraps)

1. Put chickpeas in a soup pot with about 10 cups of water. If you have some leftover onion and a clove of garlic, pop those in there too for flavor.  Bring it all to a boil, let it boil hard for about 3 minutes, then lower the heat to a simmer. Cover and let it simmer for a couple of hours, stirring every half-hour or so.  My chickpeas take about 2 1/2 hours to cook, but it’s no work to wander by the stove and stir every half hour or so.  If you have a slow-cooker or crock pot, make them in there for no fuss at all. When they’re tender, drain and SAVE the broth.

2. In another – or the same – large pot, heat the butter and oil and saute the onions and garlic until the onion’s translucent. Add the spices and keep cooking until the onion starts to color.

3. Add the tomatoes, 6 cups of the chickpea broth you saved, plus the carrots, pepper, and zucchini. Bring it all up to a boil, reduce the heat to a simmer, and cook for about 20 minutes.

4. Add the chickpeas, salt, hot sauce, and lemon juice, and cook 20 minutes more at a simmer. In the meantime – make your couscous:

5. In a large saucepan, bring 4 cups of veggie broth to a boil, adding salt if you like.  Dump in your couscous, remove it from the heat, give it a stir, cover it, and let it set for at least 5-10 minutes. The couscous will absorb the liquid and fluff up nicely.

6. To serve this, heap a cup of couscous into a large soup bowl. Make an indentation in the middle (like you’re putting gravy in the middle of a heap of mashed potatoes) and pile in a big ladle of the veggie stew and its delicious broth.

We refrigerated the leftovers separately, and we’re STILL eating this stuff.  It just keeps getting better in the fridge as the flavors meld.

Category: Cooking, Food, Food Stamp Challenge Recipes, Recipes, Whole Foods Challenge