Couscous Recipe-Healthy, Delicious, Easy, Affordable and Fast

Couscous: It's a fast versatile fine semolina pasta that can serve as a side dish or entire meal. It's as healthy as you make it. The following recipe is fresh, healthy and delicious.
Couscous is prepared in a ratio of 3 parts liquid to 2 parts couscous; so to 1 cup liquid you would add 2/3 cup couscous. This would yield approximately three to four servings.

Now let's health it up. Like most pasta couscous doesn't really have much flavor, (liken it to plain white rice). But what it does have is the ability to fill you up for very little money, like all pastas.

When you think couscous think olive oil because these go great together and it's one way to get uncooked olive oil into your diet. It's also a great way to make the odds and ends in your refridgerator stretch into a complete meal, gotta love pasta for that one.

I use broth instead of water to add flavor but even half broth and half water works well. Pine nuts and couscous go together like white on rice. I like to toast a few pine nuts to throw into my couscous at the end. I like to add frozen peas to my couscous also. You don't need to add more water. Whatever I have on hand goes in: fresh basil, lemon zest, chicken, lamb, steak, pork, it's all good. So on with a recipe.

Couscous Dinner for One
1/3 cup couscous
1/2 cup broth- low sodium is always a good choice
1/3 cup peas
3 T onion finely diced
1/2 T butter- optional
1/8 t crushed red pepper flakes
1 plus 1/2 T olive oil
1 t lemon zest or zest of half small lemon
1/3 cup frozen peas defrosted in microwave to just warm
1/4 cup frozen steak thinly (1/8th inch) sliced. (hint I use a thin steak stand it on it's side and cut it with a serrated knife)
2 T fresh Basil
1 T toasted pine nuts
1 T finely grated pecorino romano for topping

Slice frozen beef and set aside. ( hint wear a clean oven mit to keep the hand holding the meat from freezing) Zest lemon and set aside. In small pot, toast pine nuts over medium low heat tossing until light brown,remove from pot and set aside. In same pot, add 1/2 T olive oil and butter and 3 T finely diced onion with 1/8 t crushed red pepper. Cook over medium low heat until onion is clear and soft. Add broth (preferably beef broth but chicken broth works well)Turn up heat and bring mixture to boil. Immediately remove from heat. Stir in couscous, peas,basil and frozen steak. Cover and let rest 5 minutes. This should yield a medium rare steak at the end of five minutes. Toss in remaining olive oil, lemon zest and pine nuts. Plate and top with pecorino romano.

If using anything other than steak or lamb, par cook meat to 95 percent.

Note: An ounce of dry couscous provides the following: 85% carbs 1% fat 14% protein, some iron, some magnesium and some folate. Enjoy!