Curry Broccoli and Couscous

Yay!! I am so happy to be back in the kitchen! July was a whirlwind of traveling to every corner of North Carolina and beyond. We had A LOT of great times with friends and family, by all the traveling messed with my weekly routine of training for the marathon, healthy eating and sleep! So when I actually had a day off of training and no errands to run after work the other day, I told Ryan that he could find me in the kitchen for the next 4 hours! I was so happy, cooking, taking pictures, blogging (and maybe drinking a martini or two). Ryan snapped this pic when I turned to get my camera!

Back in the Kitchen

I had several things on the docket for the evening cooking event:

• Cherry Chocolate Brownies - to be posted later
• Mango Black Bean Salsa for my weekend girls beach trip
• Roasted Red Pepper dip - to be posted later
• And dinner - a new Kettler creation - Curry Broccoli and Couscous

I believe I have mentioned this before, but Ryan and I LOVE Indian cuisine. We have our dear friends Dhruv and Karishma to thank for this. We kept telling them how we disliked Indian cuisine and one day Dhruv said, "We are going to cook you a traditional Indian meal, then we will see." Karishma made 7 or 8 dishes, and each of them blew us away! Ever since then, we have been hooked. Dining out, making our own curries, shopping at the local Indian market for better spices, yum! 

I started playing around with different types of sauces, spices and Indian flavors based on a cookbook I had bought. I am certainly no expert yet, but at least my dishes can keep the Hubby happy :)

So after a lot of basic American cooking this past month, I decided to change it up and try a new curry recipe starring Ryan's fav - broccoli. (And you know me, anytime I can get him to eat more veggies, I am happy)!

I started by chopping up all the vegetables, then played around with the sauce flavors. After about 3 attempts at the sauce, I finally was happy with the results. I then made the couscous, steamed the broccoli, sauteed the veggies and mixed everything together.

Curry Broccoli and Couscous

Serves: 4
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes

2 small broccoli heads, chopped into bite size florets

3 carrots, shredded (about 1 cup)

8 mushrooms of choice, sliced (about 1 1/2 cups)

1 small red onion, chopped (full 1 cup)

2 T ghee or butter

salt and pepper

1 1/4 cup vegetable broth

1 cup plain dried couscous

salt

2 tsp white balsamic vinegar
4 T olive oil
1 tsp agave or honey
1 tsp curry paste (we used red)
3 tsp curry powder
1/4 cup low fat milk

Optional - golden raisins for garnish

Start by chopping and shredding all the vegetables (broccoli, carrots, mushrooms and onion). Feel free to add in other vegetables of choice as well. I like to chop and cut all the ingredients first before cooking, so I am ready for steps when needed.

Steam the broccoli florets. I like to use a microwave steamer for ease, but anyway you can steam them is fine. Set aside.

In a small bowl, combine the vinegar, olive oil, agave/honey, curry paste, curry powder and milk together. Whisk well until all the ingredients are well incorporated. Set the curry sauce aside.

In a small saucepan, bring the vegetable broth to a boil, then add the couscous and a pinch of salt. Quickly stir this, remove from the heat and cover the saucepan. The couscous will be done in about 5 minutes, at which point you can fluff the couscous.

Once the couscous is cooking, start sauteing the vegetables. In a large saute pan, melt the ghee or butter and add the onions. Saute the onions for about 2-3 minutes and add in the shredded carrots. 

Cook this for another 2-3 minutes and add the mushrooms (and any other raw vegetables except the steamed broccoli). Let this saute for about 5 minutes until cooked down. Add in the broccoli and curry sauce and lower the heat to medium-low. Stir to combine all the ingredients and cook on low for about 5 minutes to incorporate the flavors. 

To serve, either add in the couscous to the vegetable mixture or serve the vegetable mixture over the couscous. Either way, it is delicious with some Naan and mango chutney! Ryan likes to add some heat, so he has a hot garlic chutney that Dhruv had recommended.

*Note, if you like more sauce, just double the recipe, except for the vegetables.

*Note, this can easily be served over quinoa or other gluten-free grain for specific dietary needs. I put the leftovers over lettuce and it was a fantastic salad for lunch!

Roasted Vegetable Couscous with Tomatoes and Mozzarella

A friend of mine recently posted one of my recipes on her website, The Nana Network. Jorj Morgan, a wonderful chef and entertainer, is also a loving Nana and welcomes guest bloggers on her site. The post is one of my favorite recipes, so I wanted to share with my readers also. You can read the story here and the full recipe is below. 

I came up with this recipe by "accident" when trying to come up with a veggie-filled dish that Ryan would like as well. This instantly made it onto our "R list" (which means repeat list).

Roasted Vegetable Couscous with Marinated Tomatoes

Yields: 2-4 servings
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes

2 Portabella mushroom caps, gills removed, cut into ¼-inch pieces, about 2 cups
1 red bell pepper, cut into ¼-inch pieces, about 1 cup
1 medium zucchini, cut into ¼-inch pieces, about 1 cup
1 medium yellow squash, cut into ¼-inch pieces, about 1 cup
1/2 red onion, cut into ¼-inch pieces, about ½ cup
4 tablespoons olive oil
Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1 pint cherry tomatoes, quartered, about 1 cup
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper (optional)
1 cup plain whole wheat couscous
1 cup home made vegetable broth, or prepared low sodium vegetable broth
4 ounces fresh mozzarella, cubed, about ½ cup
1 bunch fresh arugula leaves, about 3 cups
1 tablespoon chopped, fresh basil

Preheat the oven to 400º

Mix the cherry tomatoes, balsamic vinegar and 1 tablespoon olive oil into a small bowl. Add 1/2 teaspoon salt, pepper and crushed red pepper. Stir until all the tomatoes are covered and set aside, stirring every 5 minutes.

Place the vegetables onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and coated with cooking oil spray. Drizzle 2 tablespoon olive oil over the vegetables. Sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon salt, pepper and dried basil. Toss to coat. Roast for 30 minutes.

In a medium pot mix vegetable broth, the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Bring this to a boil, add in the couscous and cover the pot and remove from heat. Let this sit for about 5 minutes and fluff with a fork to break up any clumps.

To assemble the dish, place a handful of arugula on a plate. Top with couscous and roasted vegetables. Top with mozzarella chunks and the cherry tomato mixture. Drizzle with additional oil.