With Christmas, vacation, etc there hasn’t been much cooking going on around here. I hope to change that (so far, so good this week) because I’m a bit tired of eating out. This recipe was in this months “Today’s Parent”. It is sooooooo good. It got two thumbs WAY up from both me & Dewey.
Sardinian Kebabs over Couscous
by Valerie Kendall published in Today’s Parent
1 1/2 lb (750 g) boneless pork, chicken or lamb cut into 1 inch cubes
4 Tbsp olive oil, divided
4 Tbsp lemon juice, divided
2 tsp crumbled, dried thyme
1/3 cup pine nuts
1 medium onion, chopped
4 gloves garlic, minced
1 small head cauliflower, broken into small florets
1 tsp salt
2 cups canned crushed tomatoes
2 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup dried currants
1/4 tsp pepper
1 3/4 cups whole wheat couscous (340 g box)
In a bowl, combine the cubed meat with 2 Tbsp of the olive oil, 3 Tbsp of the lemon juice and they thyme. Mix well, cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes (or as long as 2 hours). Soak six 8″ bamboo skewers in water.
Preheat barbecue grill to medium heat. Thread cubes of meat onto soaked skewers.
Place the pine nuts in a dry skillet over medium heat and toast, stirring often, until lightly browned (about 5 minutes). Remove from skillet and set aside.
I a large, deep skillet or Dutch oven, heat the remaining 2 Tbsp of oil over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring, until softened (3 to 5 minutes). Add the garlic, cauliflower and salt. Cook, stirring often, until the cauliflower begins to turn golden (8 to 10 minutes). Add the tomatoes, broth, currants and pepper and bring to a boil. Stir in the couscous, remove from heat and let sit, covered, for about 10 minutes.
Wile the couscous sits, grill the kebabs, turning occasionally, until cooked to taste.
To server, stir the remaining 1 Tbsp lemon juice and the toasted pine nuts into the couscous. Spoon some couscous on each plate and serve topped with a grilled kebab.
Makes 4 to 6 servings
Recipe Notes: I used a pack of boneless pork chops for this recipe. It ended up being about half as much meat as called for. It was not as thick as they suggested so I cut it into strips and doubled in on the skewers. This turned out fine & it cooked faster. Another change I made was to only use 1 Tbsp oil in the couscous. I also substituted 1 tsp ground thyme for the 2 tsp crumbled thyme. I bought currants instead of using raisins I already had. I would recommend doing that. Currants are really tiny and their flavor add alot to the couscous. Since they were so small you got one in every bite. Yum! I will be making this couscous recipe again even if I didn’t make the pork.
Don’t forget to check out what else is cooking this week over at Shan’s! This week she’s teaching us how to make frosting transfer designs for kid’s cakes. Fun!