Popeye's Favorite Spring Meal

The warm bowls of thick and comforting stews wear out their welcome by the time the leaves come out on the trees, as large meals in the spring and summer often seem too much. This is a meal that can feed a whole crowd, and seem delightfully light. It can be adjusted for meat eaters and vegetarians alike, and if gluten is a worry - quinoa or wild and long grain rice can take the place of couscous. 

The ingredients are chicken (tenders work well; portion 2 tenders per person give or take) and/or tofu (about 4 oz/person is a good starting point), soy sauce, honey or agave nectar, orange juice, white pepper, salt, baby spinach, extra virgin olive oil, shallots, garlic, dried cranberries, slivered almonds, green onions. The portion sizes will differ dramatically depending on how many people are coming to dinner, and different amounts of hunger. If you don't eat meat or soy products, try just using baby portabellos.

The protein for this meal is either chicken or tofu kabobs, and if cooking for a mixed crowd (that is, mixed meat eaters and vegetarians) then using separate pans makes anyone happy. Just divide the marinade and use different bags. If cooking for four people combine 1/2 cup soy sauce, 1/2 cup orange juice, 1/4 cup honey or 1/8 cup agave nectar, 1 teaspoons white pepper and 1 teaspoon salt in a ziploc bag. Seal and shake the bag to combine ingredients and then either drop in either chicken or tofu, each cut in one inch cubes. Marinade for up to 2-3 hours. They are ready to grill (or broil) after marinading. Just stick onto skewers (don't forget to soak wooden skewers in water to avoid burning). Don't throw the marinade out - it is always good to brush the kabobs in the middle of the cooking to keep them moist.

Once the kabobs start cooking, rest of the meal is wilting spinach and cooking couscous, which is a five minute wonder food, so the meal comes together quickly. The best advice for what can be difficult timing, is to get things waiting for you in the kitchen. This includes pre-chopping the green onions (for the couscous) and garlic and shallots (for spinach) and getting enough water in a bowl for the couscous. Couscous is a one to one ratio of liquid to couscous, and each person should get about 1/4 to 1/2 cup. Vegetable stock, chicken stock or water all work fine. Get the water boiling and keep warm, that way couscous can just be dropped in 5 minutes prior to serving. 

The wilted spinach with almonds and cranberries is a fantastic side dish and will make anyone rethink spinach. Start by drizzling a small amount of extra virgin olive oil in the bottom of a large skillet over medium heat and putting one shallot and one clove garlic both finely chopped. Stir and don't allow burning. After a couple of minutes, add 1/2 cup soy sauce and start putting spinach in. Buy at least two standard bags of baby spinach salad mix for four people.  It wilts down so much, this will be a small portion. It will take about 5 minutes for spinach to wilt down. At the end, add a couple of handfuls of dried cranberries, almonds and fresh ground black pepper.

If wilting spinach completely ends up being too mushy for your tastes, try just adding the soy sauce and making a warm dressing that can be added atop the spinach to give a gentle wilt. Then top with a handful of dried cranberries and almonds.

When the spinach goes into the pan, add couscous to the warm liquid and let stand for 5 minutes before fluffling with a fork and adding a few chopped green onions.

The kabobs should be done within ten minutes or so. It might be easier to manage everything by doing kabobs on the broiler inside. Just turn the kabobs halfway through cooking and brush with extra marinade.

Spoon some couscous onto a plate, top with the spinach and then one or two kabobs. This truly is a great meal to impress and is great for eating outdoors after a warm day.

Couscous: The Food So Nice They Named It Twice

It's a grain, it's a legume, oh just give it up - it is couscous - fun to eat and to say. Despite looking much like quinoa or other grains, couscous is actually small granules of the same hard durum semolina wheat used to make spaghetti and all other pastas. Couscous is very popular in Northern African and Middle Eastern cooking, and has the potential to be a college student staple because it requires no cooking. 

That's right, plain couscous (available in whole wheat and regular varieties) can be made in a coffee mug in the microwave. It takes a simple 1:1 ratio of cooking liquid to couscous, and once the liquid is brought to a boil, just add the couscous and either cover or leave in the microwave for about 5 minutes. Fluff it with a fork and it is done. Note, though, that if making a large amount, allow for ample expansion; couscous swells to more than triple its size during cooking.

Couscous makes the perfect bed for any type of grilled fish or meat and can even be dressed up with fruits, honey and a bit of milk for a desert. It can become its own main dish, also, by adding in lots of vegetables and legumes like garbonzo beans. The possibilities are endless. Go ahead and even stuff button mushrooms with couscous mixed with bruschetta or a favorite dip and have the perfect appetizer bites.

A good tip, though, is not to make couscous with water. Try using vegetable broth or if making a sweet dish, try using milk or a fruit juice even. When working with a culinary "blank canvas" feel free to "go Jackson Pollack" in the kitchen - splashing flavor wherever possible.

Here is a recipe for a great vegetable couscous pilaf. From start to finish it only takes about 15 minutes at the most and can either be eaten by itself with some garbonzo beans added to the vegetables, or below some grilled fish.

Ingredients

1/2 cup vegetable broth - reduced sodium

1/2 cup whole wheat couscous

salt and pepper to taste

1 sm. zucchini, grated or diced

1 sm. carrot, grated or diced

1 cup frozen peas or canned garbonzo beans 

1 cup of onion, grated or diced, or 3-4 green onions finely chopped

1 tbsp garam masala (or a mix of cumin, corriander, black pepper, ginger, cinnamon and cardamom)

1 tbsp margarine or butter

Preparation

First place the vegetable broth into a microwave safe mug or measuring cup, microwave until boiling, add couscous and put back in the microwave. For those with no microwave, just bring liquid to boil in a kettle or saucepan, put couscous in a bowl, add hot liquid, cover and let sit until vegetables are done cooking.

In a small saute pan, heat butter and add onions and carrots. Saute over medium to medium-high heat and season with salt and pepper and spices. Once the onions begin to turn translucent, add the zucchini.  When everything looks just about done, add the frozen peas and stir to combine. Frozen peas take practically no time to cook and are best just warmed through. If using garbonzo beans, add with the zucchini. This collective step of the process may take 10 to 15 minutes, depending on the preferred "doneness" of the vegetables. Some people like their veggies crisper than others. Neither way is right or wrong. The beauty of cooking is there is no real perfection.

Once the vegetables are nice and cooked, just add to the couscous and combine. There are hundreds of combinations of vegetables and fruits to go into couscous so be creative and pick personal favorites. This can become an easy go-to side dish and a signature item to be known for. Switch it up and have fun with it! 

Have a good weekend and the Kitchen Sink will return on Monday with more dish and dishes.