Couscous Salad with Roasted Vegetables and Chickpeas

At Costco I picked up the cookbook called Everyday Food Light.   It is all light recipes compiled from Martha’s Everyday Food magazine.  Based on this first recipe I tried, this is a winner of a cookbook.  It says serves 4 @ 372 calories.  If you are looking for quantity along with quality, this is your meal.   

Ingredients:

1 # carrots, sliced ¾ “thick on the diagonal

1 head cauliflower (3#) trimmed and cut into florets

1 ½ t ground cumin

3 T EVOO

Coarse salt and ground pepper

1 1/4 C water

1 C whole-wheat couscous

1 T lemon zest, plus ½ C fresh lemon juice (from 3 Lemons) It took 3 lemons to get the zest, but 5 ½ to get the juice.

1 can (15.5 oz) chickpeas, rinsed and drained

6 scallions, trimmed and thinly sliced

5 oz baby arugula

Directions:

1.      Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  Place carrots and cauliflower on a rimmed baking sheet; toss with cumin and 2T EVOO.   Season with salt and pepper.  Make sure you have a big enough pan to have the vegetables in a single layer.  Roast until browned and tender, 25-30 minutes, rotating sheets and tossing vegetables halfway through.  Let cool to room temperature. 

2.      Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, bring the water to a boil.  Stir in couscous and season with salt; cover and remove from heat.  Let stand until tender, 5 minutes.  Fluff with a fork; set aside to cool, uncovered.

3.       Make dressing.  In a small bowl, whisk together lemon zest and juice and remaining 1 T EVOO.  Season with salt and pepper.

4.      In a large bowl, combine roasted vegetables with couscous, chickpeas, and scallions.  Place arugula on a serving platter, and drizzle with 1T dressing.  Add remaining dressing to couscous mixture and toss; serve on top the arugula. 

Knowing how Jim feels about all vegetarian meals, I also tried this recipe called Jazzy Oven-Baked Chicken that I heard about on the Dr. OZ TV show.  This recipe is from the Orleans Parish School Board Child Nutrition Department.  The Cajun seasoning and garlic delight had to be ordered from a special vendor in LA.  It took a month for the spices to arrive.  I was a little surprised that children would eat something this spicy, but it did not fail to support my feelings on Cajun cooking, “Looks like dirt, and tastes like fire.”  As this recipe Serves 100 and covers 54# of chicken, anyone wanting to try this recipe, email me and I will send you the spices.  I have enough left unmixed to support 162# of chicken.   My mixed amount can cover 51# of chicken.

Ingredients:  (Serves 100)

54 # chicken

¾ C Cajun Creole seasoning

¾ C garlic delight blend

½ C white pepper

Cooking spray

Directions:

1.      Clean, wash and remove skin on chicken.  I used boneless as it is what I had.  I used white meat and thighs, 1# each, as that was the package sizes.  Jim like breast meat and I like thigh meat. 

2.      Mix all dry ingredients together and season the chicken.

3.      Place in a covered pan and refrigerate for 2 hours or overnight.  The longer it marinates, the more the spices will enhance.  

4.      Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Place parchment on rimmed baking sheets.  Place chicken on the pan and spray with cooking spray. Bake 40-45 minutes.  I baked the large breasts for 45 and the boneless thighs for 30.  It is a good idea to place different size pieces on different pans.