Couscous with Spring Veggies

We made this as a side dish for our parmesan and sage crusted pork chops.  We got the beautiful summer squash in our CSA box this week and I thought it would make a nice side for the pork.  We also decided on couscous, and then I thought, well why not mix the two together?  So often couscous can be bland and plain, which is nice as a base for a dish with a spicy sauce, but the pork did not have that quality.  So I decided to saute up the veggies and then mix the couscous in at the end to give it a little more flavor.  I like to cook couscous in chicken broth instead of water, again it helps add another layer of flavor.  I used to use the boxed couscous mixes, you know kinda like rice-a-roni, or the packets of noodles and sauce.  But, once I realized how much cheaper it is to just buy a larger container of couscous, those boxes were history.  Also, we like to eat whole wheat options when possible, and you can get whole wheat couscous in bulk, but they don't use it in those box mixes!

Couscous with Spring Veggies

an original recipe!

Ingredients:

1 cup chicken broth

1 cup couscous

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 an onion, chopped

1 bell pepper, chopped

1 small summer squash (or zuchinni), quartered and sliced

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

2 tablespoons butter

Directions:

• Bring chicken broth to a boil.  When boiling, add couscous, stir.  Cover pot and remove from heat.  Let stand 5 minutes and then fluff with fork.  
• While waiting for the broth to boil heat the olive oil over medium heat in a non-stick skillet.  add in onion, bell pepper and squash.  Saute 1-2 minutes, add salt, pepper and oregano.  Saute 4-5 minutes more. 
• When the veggies are tender-crisp, add couscous to the pan along with butter.  Stir to combine and serve!