Quick & Easy Orange Couscous

We all like to go to pasta or rice as a side to most of our main meals but you really couldn’t find anything easier than couscous in particular a flavoured one like orange couscous.

Instant couscous, which is what’s readily available at the supermarket has already been prepared, that is pre-steamed and dried semolina but it is quite a lengthly process if done by hand. Couscous is commonly used in North African cuisine like in regions of Morocco and some parts of the Middle East. It is also very similar to ‘grits’ in the USA. It can be used in both savoury and sweet dishes and perfect in a salad.

It’s so easy to prepare. Just add 1 cup of couscous to a dish, heat the kettle and make up to 1 cup of liquid and pour over the couscous. Cover and let sit for about 5 minutes. I had 1 orange in the fridge so squeezed the juice into a jug and made up the rest of the liquid to 1 cup with just hot water. Once the couscous has absorbed all the liquid, fluff with a fork and add a slurp of olive oil or a knob of butter. Use as you would pasta or rice but it goes particularly well with Moroccan dishes like a tagine, stew or slow cooked dish.

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Quick & Easy Orange Couscous

A delicious side to all types of dishes instead of pasta or rice. Particular nice with Moroccan or other North African cuisine dishes.

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 5 minutes

Total Time 10 minutes

Servings 6

Author Anne

Ingredients

• 1 cup instant couscous
• 1 cup liquid including any juices and flavours
• 1 tbs olive oil or 1 tbs butter

Instructions

1. Put couscous in a bowl.
2. Add 1 cup of hot water including any flavouring like citrus juices, herbs or spices.
3. Cover and let stand for 5 minutes.
4. Fluff with a fork then add a tablespoon of olive oil or butter and stir through.
5. Serve as required.

Moroccan Roast Chicken with Couscous

I couldn’t tell you the last time I bought a frozen roast chicken to cook at home. And to think that’s all I grew up with. I was involved in plucking many a chicken, duck or goose on my Mum’s Aunty’s farm and we always had a roast for lunch every Sunday. When we got home from Sunday School and church on Sunday, the roast was always put on and the smells were just fantastic. All the roast vegetables, fresh beans, homestyle gravy and usually a pudding of some sort. Winter, summer, autumn or spring, we always had a Sunday roast. It always set us up well for the meat supply for the week too for school lunches and other meals.

Recently, I was asked to try a Steggles frozen chicken and I was pleasantly surprised that for under $9 I could buy a size 19 (or 1.9kg) chicken. It’s huge! (Well, huge for us.) Those little roast chickens you pick up from the supermarket are about half the size. I don’t remember my Mum or Nanna ever doing too much with the chicken but I do remember them both making wonderful stuffing (or seasoning). Nanna always made her with fresh herbs and onion and Mum’s was always with onion and dried mixed herbs. I love stuffing (and so does my son). They both used stale or older bread to make the stuffing but I wanted to try something different.

I was going to try quinoa but decided on keeping with a Middle Eastern theme and use couscous with Moroccan spices. You can buy a Moroccan blend, which I had a little leftover but usually spices like dried coriander and cumin, allspice, cinnamon, cayenne pepper, ground ginger and nutmeg are a pretty good start. I added heaps of freshly grated lemon zest to both the butter rub I used on the outside of the bird and inside the cavity with the couscous. I also added half of the lemon I used to get juice from straight into the cavity with the couscous. The aroma was fantastic while it was roasting!

I must try it again with quinoa but I’m certainly doing it again with couscous. It makes a complete meal with just a few sides. (I’ll blog about the sides I served with this roast in a couple days.) The chicken was beautifully moist and there was heaps of meat. I’ve got 2 more meals to make out of this bird so stay tuned. I also think I’m going back to cooking my own chickens. I can control the flavour, the way its cooked and can get a whole lot more meat I normally get from a rotisserie supermarket chicken.

Moroccan Roast Chicken with Couscous

• Steggles frozen chicken
• 1/2 cup couscous
• 1 cup chicken stock
• 3 tbs butter
• 1 lemon, for both zest and juice
• Moroccan spices
• red capsicum (bell peppers), finely diced
• 1/2 onion, finely diced
• salt and peppers
• 2 onions, chopped roughly

Optional:
dates, dried apricots, almonds or pine nuts (I’m not a person who likes fruit in savoury dishes but if you want to experience a full Moroccan flavour, these are essential ingredients.)

1. If chicken is frozen, defrost the previous day in the refrigerator.
2. Preheat oven to 200 deg C.
3. Heat chicken stock and when boiling, remove from heat and add couscous. Stir until couscous has absorbed liquid.
4. Add 1 tbs butter, 2 tbs of Moroccan seasoning, 1/2 of grated lemon zest, juice from half of lemon, salt and pepper, red pepper and onion.
5. Add to cavity of chicken and add the squeezed half of lemon after stuffing has been added.
6. Cut a slit to underside of one of the chicken legs and slide the other leg into it to secure.
7. Add other half of grated lemon zest and 1 tbs of Moroccan spices to 2 tbs of butter. Spread over breast part of chicken.
8. Place chicken on top of chopped onions and cook in hot oven for 30 mins. Reduce temperature to 160 deg C (fan forced) for approx 1 hour or until juices run clear from the thigh of the chicken.

Disclaimer:  This is not a sponsored post. I did receive a gift card to purchase the chicken from the supermarket. All thoughts, opinions and photos are my own.

Moroccan Pumpkin & Chickpeas with Couscous

In an effort to eat less meat (for ethical reasons), I’m preparing more meatless meals. I do love the flavours of Morocco and have cooked a Moroccan Chicken and Chickpea Stew in the slow cooker before. This dish was prepared in as long as it took to boil pumpkin. It really was fast food. I got to use up lots of vegies I had in the fridge too. If you don’t have pumpkin, butternut squash or sweet potato would work perfectly.

I love eating food from ethnic cuisines such as Moroccan, Indian, Lebanese, Turkish, etc but it can be quite a bit to set up the spices you might need. You’ll find a crossover of spices in most cuisines with cumin, coriander, cinnamon, cloves, chilli and turmeric. Moroccan food can also have nutmeg, allspice, cayenne pepper and ground ginger. For $2 to $3 you can buy a small jar of premixed Moroccan spices at the supermarket. If you find yourself cooking these types of dishes all the time, it might be more economical to buy the spices in larger packets and make up these blends yourself.

Also, if you haven’t tried couscous before, give it a go. It really is yummy and there are so many things you can mix into it to compliment your dish. I’m sure the kids will love it too.

Moroccan Pumpkin & Chickpeas with Couscous

• 1 can chickpeas, drained
• pumpkin, chopped into bite sized pieces
• 1 brown onion, sliced thinly
• (any other leftover vegetables – I had baby spinach and a grated beet/carrot/broccoli mix)
• 2 tbs Moroccan spice blend (refer above, use as little or as many as you have)
• 2 tbs extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tbs Greek yoghurt
• salt and pepper
• enough water to just cover the pumpkin in a saucepan
• cashews and/or fresh coriander to serve

Couscous:

• Make up as per instructions on the box.  Add 1 tablespoon of Moroccan spice blend to the oil and fry before adding couscous.

1. Fry sliced onion in the oil until just cooked.
2. Add spices and cook until they become aromatic.
3. Add pumpkin and other vegetables and stir. (I left the baby spinach until the end as it only needed to be heated through.)
4. Cover with enough water to just cover. Add salt and pepper.
5. When pumpkin is cooked, add chickpeas and any other vegetables. Heat through.
6. Once cooked, remove from heat and stir through yoghurt.
7. Serve on top of cooked couscous and garnish with dry roasted cashews and/or fresh coriander.