Couscous is considered a must have staple in our house. It is easy to cook, easy to eat and can be flavored in a myriad of ways. Years ago I cooked Moroccan recipes frequently. In recent times, however, I've let some of my favorite cuisines slide into a black hole. Not long ago a fellow bento-loving friend asked me a question about couscous and sparked a desire to return to the luxurious couscous recipes of former days. And so...I present Garlic and Basil Couscous, Moroccan vegetable stew and Moroccan Flavored Tofu with Gravy.
Couscous takes flavors easily. I've never had bad couscous! This is my basic couscous flavoring recipe that is engraved upon my brain and I make almost weekly. You can get the flavored boxes of couscous at the store, of course, but where's the fun in that?
Ingredients:
1 box Plain (unflavored) couscous
4 TB Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 TB Butter
2-4 TB Minced Garlic
1-3 TB Fresh or dried Basil
2 tsp Salt
1. Heat olive oil and butter in a small pan over medium heat until the butter is fully melted.
2. Cook the Minced Garlic in the oil and butter mixture, stirring, for about 2 minutes.
3. Add the Basil and Salt. Continue stirring and let everything cook together until the minced garlic is a lovely golden color, usually another 2-3 minutes.
4. Prepare the couscous as instructed on the box, bag, etc. When you get to the point where you are instructed to cover and let sit for several minutes - add the olive oil, garlic, basil mix and stir in - then continue with the original instructions.
Notes:
- The range of tablespoons for the garlic and basil is because not everyone loves garlic as much as I do. If you like a lot of garlic flavor, you can even add more but you might want to start out slow.
- As always, I am believe in the Availability Principle of cooking. If I have fresh Basil I definitely use it but it's much more likely that I will have dried on hand. This particular time I used dried. The same goes for the minced garlic, although I hate dealing with actual garlic cloves so I prefer using the jarred version.
- Beware of overcooking the garlic! If it turns golden faster than the time listed above, go ahead and take it off the heat. It will continue to cook a little after removing it from the heat because it will still be in the hot oil and butter. If you cook the garlic to the brown stage there is a danger of having it end up like tiny rocks in your couscous - definitely something to be avoided!
The vegetable stew is very flexible. Most veggies work well in it. It carries a punch of flavor with the side effect of a wonderful aroma that fills your house and might even be sniffed in your fridge if you have leftovers. I usually prefer to reduce most of the liquid out, but you can alter it towards either wetter or drier.
Ingredients:
2 TB Olive Oil
3 TB Minced Garlic
1/2 Onion, chopped
1 can Chickpeas, drained
2 Potatoes, peeled and chopped
1 1/2 Cups Vegetable Broth
2 Tomatoes, chopped
1/2 cups Water
1 Carrot
1/2 Zucchini
1 Yellow Squash
2 TB Fresh or dried Parsley
2 TB Fresh or dried Cilantro
2 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Ground Cardamom
1 TB Ground Cumin
1/2 tsp Ground Turmeric
1 tsp Ground Ginger
1. Chop the Onion, tomatoes and potatoes into 1/2 inch pieces. Chop the carrots, zucchini and squash into
1 1/2 inch long slices.
2. Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat.
3. Cook the minced garlic and onion for 2 minutes, then remove from the pan.
4. Put in the tomatoes, vegetable broth, water, potatoes and chickpeas. Simmer for 10 minutes.
5. Add the onion and garlic back to the pot along with the parsley, cilantro, salt, cumin, turmeric and ginger.
Turn heat down and simmer uncovered for another 10 minutes.
6. Next put the carrot, zucchini and squash into the pot to cook with the potatoes and chickpeas. If the
liquid is low at this point you can add more vegetable broth or water.
7. Continue to simmer on medium heat for 10 minutes. Remove 1/4 cup liquid from the pot and set aside for
the Tofu Gravy.
8. Check to see if the chickpeas and potatoes are tender. If so, remove from heat and serve over couscous.
If not, keep simmering on low heat until they are tender.
Notes:
- I slice the carrots, etc. lengthwise because I like to have different textures in my vegetable stew. You can chop or slice the veggies any way you like instead of doing some chopped and some sliced.
-This type of dish would normally have some cayenne added along with the other spices. Since I was making it as a family dish I did not add the cayenne. However, since I love hot and spicy food I sprinkled (okay, okay - poured) ground cayenne over my stew before consuming.
I'm never sure whether to call this a cream sauce or a gravy. I make it very thick so I tend to lean towards gravy. No matter what you call it, this stuff is full of flavor and makes a yummy companion to the tofu and couscous! I flavor the tofu very lightly so that it doesn't start a fight with the gravy flavor.
Ingredients:
1/2 package extra firm Tofu
2 TB Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/2 TB Butter
Salt
Ground Cumin
1/4 cup liquid reserved from the Morrocan veggie stew (above)
2 TB Butter
4-6 TB Heavy Whipping Cream
4-6 TB All Purpose Flour
1. Slice the tofu into squares, lay the squares out on paper towels. Cover with more paper towels and lightly
press to squeeze out the excess liquid.
2. Heat the olive oil and butter in a pan on medium heat.
3. Sprinkle cumin and salt to taste on the fronts and backs of the tofu slices.
4. Lightly pan sear the tofu in the olive oil and butter mixture until the fronts and back of the slices are
golden.
5. Remove the tofu from the pan.
6. Add the 2 TB Butter to the pan and let melt. Then add the Stew liquid.
7. Slowly add Whipping Cream and Flour 1 TB at a time, continuously stirring. If you like a thinner sauce,
use less flour. For a heartier gravy use more flour.
8. Pour or spoon over tofu slices and couscous.
Notes:
- If you don't want to make the Vegetable Stew, you can use Vegetable broth to make the gravy. In order to the get the right flavor, add some garlic, cumin, turmeric and cilantro.
- When I'm cooking the gravy I usually stir with a whisk - it works much better than a spoon and it is fun!
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