Mangez Le Couscous!

Gather 'round the tagine, kids. I've got an easy couscous recipe, which we tested on Elbo last night. He gave it the classic Bonanos Thumbs-Up And Belly-Rub, so we must have done something right.

We used two recipes, one for vegetarian couscous, a second for Moroccan kefta (meatballs).

Print those out if you wish and make the following changes, as I did, or try your own.

For the couscous:

Instead of zucchini, I used asparagus.
Instead of vegetable broth, I used chicken broth.
Instead of 3 tomatoes, I used half a can of TJ's peeled unsalted tomatoes.
I added most of a can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed. I added them toward the end to keep them firm.

I also found the spices generally lacking, so I added more. You can do much of this adjustment at the end when you've removed the veggies and you're reducing the remaining liquid to a sauce.

For the kefta:

Instead of ground lamb, I used ground turkey.
Instead of ground ginger, I grated fresh ginger.
I added a few dashes of worcestershire sauce and 1/2 teaspoon of dried crushed mint. Mint is good.

It's also good to let the meat mixture sit for a few hours in the fridge before cooking. Let the flavors combine.

We put the kefta in a pan under the broiler. They took longer to cook than advertised, but keep a close eye on them. Once they start to brown on one side, they'll go quickly, so turn them over to get brown on the other side. They'll also release a lot of liquid, so use a tall-sided pan that won't slosh over the rim. We did not use skewers -- they were fine sitting on the floor of the pan, which we spritzed with olive oil spray.

Tip for couscous: you can use water, but the more broth you substitute for water, the better the couscous. If you want to add things to the couscous -- green onion, walnuts, raisins, currants -- do so after it's cooked. You don't want soggy nuts, believe me.