Light Saturday Lunch: Couscous, Bean and Vegetable Salad

I don't think it's a coincidence that two of my favorite ways to spend my free time, cooking and knitting, are both activities I associate with my grandmother.  So, it was nice to bring together these two activities today when I hosted a few friends at my apartment today for lunch and knitting lessons.

For lunch, I prepared a couscous, bean and vegetable salad.  The couscous was Bob's Red Mill Tri-Color Pearl Couscous.  The orange and green colors in the couscous come from tomato and spinach.  As I mentioned in a previous blog, pearled couscous is larger and rounder from regular old couscous.  I happen to prefer pearl couscous, or, as it's sometimes called, Israeli couscous, to the other kind.

I prepared two cups of the couscous according to package directions (1.25 cups of water for each cup of couscous, bring water to boil, add couscous, bring back to a boil, and simmer for 10 minutes).  Since the couscous will absorb all the water, it has a tendency to stick to the pan, so stir it occasionally.

When the couscous was done, I transferred it to a bowl and immediately poured in a generous amount of my lemon vinaigrette (the same dressing I put on my salad for Wednesday's pasta and salad dinner).  A tip if you're reusing the vinaigrette & it's been refrigerated - let it come up to room temperature and shake it to help it recombine a bit.  Pouring the vinaigrette on the hot couscous helped the flavors really combine - you could smell the lemony goodness waft through my kitchen.


I then added one can of black beans (rinsed first), two handfuls of carrot shreds and a few generous handfuls of arugula.  I then seasoned the mixture with salt and pepper and let it set out at room temperature until my friends arrives.  Because of the vibrant green and orange of the arugula and carrots, the tri-color couscous didn't pop as much as I thought it might, but it was still good.

I also made some roasted brussels sprouts & shallots that folks could eat on the side.  I think I am on a mission to revive the reputation of the brussels sprout and let people know it can indeed be a tasty vegetable if prepared properly!

For dessert, we had some fresh strawberries provided by my friend Marie, as well as some vegan cookies provided by my friend Elena.  The Andean Dream Chocolate Chip Cookies are made with quinoa.  They're wheat-free, dairy-free, soy-free and made in a tree-nut free facility, so they are great for folks with allergy issues and gluten intolerance, but who are also living a vegan lifestyle.  And, they're tasty!


We also sampled Pamela's Ginger Cookies with Sliced Almonds.  These are also wheat-free, gluten-free, soy-free and non-dairy, but not appropriate for those with nut allergies.  They're chewy, gingery and tasty, which is a welcome treat after my sad discovery that the ginger snaps I've been getting have soy in them.

Pesto Pasta, Garlic Bread and Colorful Salad

My sister-in-law and her sister joined my husband and I for dinner tonight, and I wanted to put together a healthy vegetarian meal that would be quick and easy to prepare on a weeknight.

For the main dish, I decided to do a pesto pasta with grape tomatoes and bocconcini (tiny little fresh mozzarella balls).  In case you are unfamiliar with pesto, it's a green sauce made with olive oil, garlic, fresh basil, pine nuts and parmesan cheese.  If you have specific nut sensitivities, be aware that sometimes pesto is prepared with walnuts instead of pine nuts.  (I learned this the hard way, since walnuts are my most intense allergy.) 

Pesto was originally made with a mortar and pestle (which explains the name, which refers to, as Wikipedia says, "anything made by pounding").  However, I find that a food processor makes pesto incredibly easy.  This recipe gets the proportions pretty right, but taste as you go to add and subtract ingredients as you see fit.  It's also helpful to scrape down the bowl as you go so that the ingredients combine effectively.
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I haven't tried to make vegan pesto, mostly because all of the vegan parmesan substitutes I've come across have either soy or walnuts.  However, I did use Whole Foods' vegetarian parmesan, which is not made with rennet or derived from cows treated with rGBh.  But, if someone would like to give it a shot, let me know how it turns out.

For the pasta, I used Barilla Plus Angel Hair.  Plus pasta is made with golden semolina and flaxseed, spelt, oats, barley, and legumes.  It is also made with egg whites, so it's not suitable for vegans.  However, if you're a lacto-ovo vegetarian, this pasta has some positives.  One serving has 17 grams of protein and 4 grams of fiber, as well as 15% of the DV for iron, 28% of the DV for ALA Omega-3 and 40% of the DC for folate.

The one thing that drove me slightly batty about tonight's pasta is that when I stirred in the tomatoes and mozzarella, they immediately sank to the bottom of the bowl, which killed my presentation.  The pesto combined just fine, however.

The garlic bread I made was suitable for vegans.  During my lunch hour, I went to the Foggy Bottom Whole Foods and grabbed a whole wheat french bread.  When I got home, I made a garlic "butter" using soy-free earth balance, freshly minced garlic, parsley and red pepper flakes.  I spread the "butter" on the bread and let it toast in the oven at 350 for ten minutes.  It came out crusty and gooey, just like traditional garlic bread.

Whenever I do a big pasta dinner, I like to serve a green salad on the side.  I got a pre-washed bag of spring mix, which I topped with pre-shreeded carrots, julienned Asian pear and slivered almonds.  If you're not familiar with Asian pears, it's a round fruit native to China, Japan and Korea.  Since they have a high water content, they are typically eaten raw, rather than in baked goods.

I normally don't eat salad dressing, since it's often laden with soybean oil, but I decided to try my hand at making a vinaigrette tonight.  I used this Epicurious recipe, omitting the sugar and using Grey Poupon horseradish mustard (aka, what we have in the house).  It paired better than I expected with the salad, and we put the leftover dressing in a cruet so I can use it throughout the week.  I've learned to appreciate dry salad, but it's sure nice to have a dressing option when I want it.