If you know me-you know that I am a side dish as a main dish queen. I like meat/chicken/fish...but really love foods that are considered sides more than anything. During my weak moments of buttery, cheesy, greasy,cholesterol-y indulgence-you could see me plopped in a wooden chair at the Cracker Barrel dining on lovely down home versions of mac and cheese, collard greens, green beans, squash casserole and cheesy hash brown casserole. Ahhh...comfort food at its finest, and hey I was getting my veggies too, right?
Well, the aging metabolism decided to slow herself down and bestow some 40 inch hips upon my little frame-so the days of creamy cheesy bliss are over for me. I still allow myself the occasional 6 Cheese Baked Mac N Cheese or Loaded Baked Potato Salad complete with gobs of mayo, bacon and cheese. I know me and completely depriving myself would just mean failure.
I also know though that I have found that I love fresh, often times raw foods. I love the clean taste and the lightness of them. I have always loved a fresh crisp salad loaded up with veggies. One of my favorite snacks is shelled, blanched and chilled edamame.
So anyway, after that long drawn out and unnecessary explanation about my love of side dishes...here's what I made for dinner last night: Whole Wheat Couscous with Parmesan and Peas It was delicious! I found it posted on Eatingwell.com-which is a recipe site I just discovered recently. *I* could eat this as a main dish for dinner with a nice green salad. It was filling and at about 200 calories per serving, I would call it hip and boo-tay friendly. It was also quick and fracktastically easy. That's one of the great things about couscous-it literally takes only a few minutes to prepare-start to finish.
I did make some lemon garlic chicken tenders to go with, as my husband is a protein freak-he is an athlete and a true carnivore so there's no getting around the "meat" in this house. this recipe has about 10g of protein by itself-but you will never convince this man that you can get enough protein without some tuna or poultry thrown in somewhere.
I forgot to upload the picture of it to my online photobook so I'll have to post that later.
OK-so...make this stuff. Its elegant and easy and yumm.
1 14-ounce can reduced-sodium chicken broth or vegetable broth
1/4 cup water
2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 cup whole-wheat couscous
1 1/2 cups frozen peas
2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
1 teaspoon freshly grated lemon zest
Salt & freshly ground pepper to taste
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1. Combine broth, water and oil in a large saucepan; bring to a boil. Stir in couscous and remove from heat. Cover and let plump for 5 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, cook peas on the stovetop or in the microwave according to package directions.
3. Add the peas, dill, lemon zest, salt and pepper to the couscous; mix gently and fluff with a fork. Serve hot, sprinkled with cheese.
**the only thing I did differently was dumped the parmesan in and mixed it into the entire batch. **
Well, the aging metabolism decided to slow herself down and bestow some 40 inch hips upon my little frame-so the days of creamy cheesy bliss are over for me. I still allow myself the occasional 6 Cheese Baked Mac N Cheese or Loaded Baked Potato Salad complete with gobs of mayo, bacon and cheese. I know me and completely depriving myself would just mean failure.
I also know though that I have found that I love fresh, often times raw foods. I love the clean taste and the lightness of them. I have always loved a fresh crisp salad loaded up with veggies. One of my favorite snacks is shelled, blanched and chilled edamame.
So anyway, after that long drawn out and unnecessary explanation about my love of side dishes...here's what I made for dinner last night: Whole Wheat Couscous with Parmesan and Peas It was delicious! I found it posted on Eatingwell.com-which is a recipe site I just discovered recently. *I* could eat this as a main dish for dinner with a nice green salad. It was filling and at about 200 calories per serving, I would call it hip and boo-tay friendly. It was also quick and fracktastically easy. That's one of the great things about couscous-it literally takes only a few minutes to prepare-start to finish.
I did make some lemon garlic chicken tenders to go with, as my husband is a protein freak-he is an athlete and a true carnivore so there's no getting around the "meat" in this house. this recipe has about 10g of protein by itself-but you will never convince this man that you can get enough protein without some tuna or poultry thrown in somewhere.
I forgot to upload the picture of it to my online photobook so I'll have to post that later.
OK-so...make this stuff. Its elegant and easy and yumm.
1 14-ounce can reduced-sodium chicken broth or vegetable broth
1/4 cup water
2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 cup whole-wheat couscous
1 1/2 cups frozen peas
2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
1 teaspoon freshly grated lemon zest
Salt & freshly ground pepper to taste
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1. Combine broth, water and oil in a large saucepan; bring to a boil. Stir in couscous and remove from heat. Cover and let plump for 5 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, cook peas on the stovetop or in the microwave according to package directions.
3. Add the peas, dill, lemon zest, salt and pepper to the couscous; mix gently and fluff with a fork. Serve hot, sprinkled with cheese.
NUTRITION INFORMATION: Per serving: 208 calories; 4 g fat (1 g sat, 2 g mono); 6 mg cholesterol; 35 g carbohydrate; 10 g protein; 7 g fiber; 186 mg sodium.
**the only thing I did differently was dumped the parmesan in and mixed it into the entire batch. **
7 comments:
I love couscous so i will be making this recipe and i love that recipe site, i have been using it a while! I feel you on the love of cheese, i am trying to get it under control!! I am also a side dish for a main dish kinda girl, i do it all the time at home, especially with couscous, it is so versatile and you can add so many different yummy things to it.
Yum...I am going to make this.
Sounds delicious! We love couscous around, so I'll have to try it.
Thanks for the heads up on the recipe website. I'm always on the lookout for ones with healthy recipes.
Looks yummy Cat and I love your little garden!
Couscous is so versatile ... I throw all kinds of veggies in and a sprinkle of cheese and sometimes toasted almonds. People think I have worked for hours ... LOL!
Add a chilled glass of white wine ... OH MY!
Denise
http://WineFoodPaiirng.blogspot.com
So I didn't have any lemons from which to procure zest, so I figured I'd just try using some of my lemon basil (bloody hell, it's just sitting htere being all smug while the dill was getting clipped.... lemon basil had it coming) because I'm handy in the kitchen like that. Also tossed in some chopped roasted garlic (because, please.... I can't eat if there's no garlic!) the whole thing was just.... FABO!
YOU ROCK MY FACE OFF!
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