Friday, March 23, 2007

Couscous is just so-so



Savory Couscous
Pillsbury Complete Cookbook Copyright 2000, 2006

1 tablespoon butter or margarine
¼ cup chopped red onion
2 cups water
1 teaspoon dried parsley flakes
½ teaspoon seasoned salt
¼ teaspoon dried sage leaves
¼ teaspoon dried thyme leaves
1 1/3 cups uncooked couscous I used whole wheat couscous

1. Melt the margarine in medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion; cook 1 minute or until tender, stirring occasionally.
2. Add water, parsley, seasoned salt, sage and thyme. Increase heat to high; bring to a boil. Stir in couscous. Remove from heat; cover and let stand 5 minutes. Fluff lightly with fork before serving.
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I've come to the conclusion that I'm just not crazy about couscous. I loved it the first time I made it but since then, it's just been okay. It always seems a bit too dry. Maybe it's the whole wheat couscous - I'm not crazy about some whole wheat pastas. It's just not one of my favorite side dishes. My husband has made a few comments about it, good comments, so I keep trying more recipes. My son, he just makes a huge mess with this stuff.

I do love this cookbook. I'm often tempted by those check-out line cookbooks but I resist because I always tell myself I can buy a 'real' cookbook for the same price in Ollie's. I picked this cookbook up in Ollie's for $4.99 and it's equivalent to quite a few of those checkout line cookbooks. It has over 1,000 recipes, including a bonus section of refrigerated dough recipes. Score!

I can't believe another weekend has arrived already. This week went by quickly. I'm trying something new tonight - I made the pizza dough this morning and put it in the fridge to rest all day. I think it should be fine, maybe even better. I find that the less I have to do after work to get dinner on the table, the more I enjoy it.

Blast From the Past: Hoedown BBQ Chuck Roast from earlier this month. That was the first recipe I tried from this cookbook but I forgot to talk about the cookbook when I posted it.

Question of the Day: Are there any foods you keep trying, even though you're not crazy about them?

8 comments:

Unknown said...

Yep...sweet potatoes and tea (although, I've just about given up on tea!).

Randi said...

The near east couscous mixes are good. Can you email me so I can give you my address? Thanks.
Randi66@cabletv.on.ca

Anonymous said...

lentils

Randi said...

I'm curious, what does your hubby say about all your cookbooks? Do you buy other types of books too? I dont enjoy buying novels, I'd rather check them out of the library, but like you, I love cookbooks. Did you get your KA whole grain baking book yet?

The Cookbook Junkie said...

My MIL has lots of cookbooks and my husband's grandmother and uncle buy lots of books so I don't think he thinks it's strange that I have so many cookbooks. I don't think he's noticed how much my collection has grown over the years.

I don't buy many other types of books. I worked in the warehouse of a book distributor for a couple of summers during college so I had a large collection of various books from that time period that I only recently whittled down so overall I probably have the same amount of books as I did when I met my husband.

I did finally get my KA baking book but I haven't made anything from it yet.

DancesInGarden said...

Lamb. Either it is just okay or it is gross, there doesn't seem to be an in-between for me.

I don't like couscous either, I think it is the texture. It makes me gag when I try to eat it. I think I might like that pearl couscous though, because I don't mind ancini de pepe, orzo, stellini, etc.

Red Dirt Mummy said...

Ricotta - I kept trying it in recipes but finally reached the conclusion that I just don't like it much. So, no more "... and ricotta" recipes for me LOL.

Chef Jeena said...

Nice blog! I like Israeli cous cous too, it a lot bigger :)


visit jeena's kitchen healthy recipe blog