Couscous!

I like couscous, but I didn't know how to cook it--until now, that is! This recipe is pretty quick and easy because, let's face it, if it wasn't, I wouldn't cook it. And who knew that couscous is probably the easiest thing to cook in the entire world!

Yum. Tangy and satisfying. And maybe even kind of pretty?

I pretty much followed this recipe from Yummly, but I modified it a little because I didn't have olives or eggplant (I finally used up my Costco jar of kalamata olives!) and I was too impatient to wait 45 minutes. Oh, and I added broccoli because I love it. If you have fresh herbs or fresh lemons for juice, use those. But I didn't, and it still tasted great.

• 2 zucchini
• 1 red bell pepper
• 1 head of broccoli
• 2 T minced garlic (I hate chopping garlic, so I buy the pre-minced stuff in a jar.)
• some olive oil
• 3 T balsamic vinegar
• 1 T rosemary   
• 2 12 cups water
• 1 t salt
• 1 1/4 c couscous
• 6 T lemon juice
• 4 T basil 

 (So this recipe calls for cutting the veggies in big chunks, cooking them, and then cutting them into tiny pieces. If that sounds too annoying for you, do it differently of course! The zucchini started to get a little mushy on me, so I might recommend leaving it in biggish pieces until the end, but I think the red pepper and broccoli could be cut up little from the very beginning. This recipe makes me wish I had a Slap-Chop...)

1. Turn the oven on to 400°F, and while it preheats, fry the veggies and garlic in a cast iron skillet that is pretty hot, but not too hot. (Don't burn the garlic like I did!)  Once the veggies have a little brownness on them, spread them on a baking sheet, drizzle olive oil and balsamic vinegar sprinkle with rosemary and salt and pepper. Pop them in the oven for however long you can stand. (I did about 10 minutes.)

2. Bring the 2 1/2 cups water, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 tablespoon oil to a boil . Stir in couscous. Remove from heat. Let sit for about 5 minutes, and voila! you have magic couscous.

3. When you take the veggies out of the oven, cut them up into little bites. Then mix the veggies with the couscous and add about 1/4 c olive oil, lemon juice, and basil.The recipe says wait 30 minutes before serving, but screw that--just eat it.

This recipe almost tastes better the after it has sat in the fridge for a day. It would be so yummy as a cold summer salad. Om nom nom nom nom.