Four Days of Cous Cous

It used to be that whenever I was making any kind of grain—pasta, rice, etc—I would only make enough for that particular meal. It didn’t dawn on me until I went back to school and started having to plan ahead that it’s actually super-convenient to have cooked grains on hand to recombine in all kinds of new ways for a quick lunch or effortless dinner. Plus, using the stove less often saves energy!

This week, I tried out Trader Joe’s whole wheat couscous, which I’d picked up on a recent shopping trip. I feel like if something’s available in whole wheat, why not go for it? Provided it’s actually whole wheat and not just colored to look darker, you’re bound to get more nutrients.

The first night, I tossed some in a Tupperware full of chickpea-eggplant-zucchini-tomato stew I’d made during the afternoon before leaving for class. It traveled really well and was still warm when I got around to eating it a few hours later. I like to pack lunches and dinners for when I’m stuck on campus during mealtimes. It saves me the rushing around— and money.

The next day for lunch, I came home from a morning class starving yet also in the mood to cook (best procrastination tool ever). So what did I do? I assembled all the intriguing ingredients I could find: mushrooms, carrot, ginger, garlic, lentils, roasted red pepper, eggplant, leftover spicy steamed collard greens, and of course, leftover couscous. After some simmering and reducing, I had a delicious (and huge) plate of veggies, lentils, and grains. Perfect.

The next day, I tossed some couscous into a quick salad, along with some tomato, cucumber, avocado, and crumbled Mary’s Gone Crackers. Beautiful.

   

 Finally, the night after that, Chris threw the last little bit of couscous into a soup he was heating up. He also added a can of beans and some of my homemade tomato sauce, along with garlic and chopped jalapeño. It was an interesting—and very successful—experiment. He also made some lovely hors d’oeuvres with olive tapenade, roasted peppers and capers on garlic toast. Can you tell we’re trying to clean out the cabinets?