Whole Grain Israeli CousCous Pilaf

A few posts ago we asked what recipes people were looking for lately and someone (was it Natalee?) asked for more sides. I couldn’t agree more that sides are tricky. They somehow end up being an afterthought, which isn’t that strange when you consider dinner on the table at all a minor miracle several nights of the week. So, we’ve been thinking about some new twists on sides and I’m pretty darn pleased with what I came up with this weekend. Well, really I’m pretty darned pleased with what I found at the grocery store: Whole Grain couscous! Who knew? I love couscous and so do the kids. Which was all very nice until I realized that it’s basically little balls of white pasta. So, delicious but not the healthiest addition to a meal. But I just recently came across whole grain couscous and Israeli couscous. If you haven’t tried Israeli couscous, it’s just a larger pearl and actually much more satisfying to eat. Think of it like risotto – you want to cook it until it’s al dente and with a little bit left to it.

Ben was cooking up a Middle Eastern lamb feast for dinner tonight so I thought I’d make a pilaf to go with that. This was easy peasy to put together and tasted better after being in the fridge for an hour while the rest of the meal was coming together. The pilaf ended up being satisfying and light – it would be an easy thing to bring to a barbecue or a potluck dinner. The kids weren’t sure about it until I reminded them that couscous is really just balls of pasta. I’m already thinking of the fall versions…. chunks of butternut squash with pecans and goat cheese…. okay, let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Let me know if you try it and also let us know what your favourite sides are. We love hearing from you!