Add this recipe to your meal plan as a main, side or even as a snack. You can switch up your vegetables for variety anytime as well
Ingredients
- 375 mL (1 ½ cups) uncooked whole grain couscous
- 1 rutabaga cut into 2.5 cm (1 inch) cubes
- 4 carrots, cubed
- 4 parsnips, cubed
- 2 celery stalks, sliced
- 1 can (540 mL/19 oz) chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 1 can (796 mL/28 oz) diced no salt added tomatoes
- 15 mL (1 tbsp) couscous spice (see tip)
- 2 bay leaves
- 3 zucchini sliced into thick rounds
Directions
- Bring 375 mL (1 ½ cups) of water to a boil, then remove from heat. Add couscous and cover, letting it absorb water for about 5 minutes. Once this is done, little chefs can fluff it with a fork.
- Place rutabaga, carrots, parsnips, celery and chickpeas into a large pot.
- Crush tomatoes using a blender, and place in the pot with spices and bay leaves. Add about 400 mL (1 ⅔ cup) of water, or until vegetables are just covered.
- Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer gently for 20 minutes until vegetables are tender.
- Then add zucchini and continue cooking for 10 minutes. During this time, cook couscous.
- Once the vegetables are cooked, remove bay leaves and serve on a bed of cooked couscous.
Tips
- Stop couscous from clumping by stirring 5 mL (1 tsp) of olive oil into couscous, just before adding it to water.
- Prepare couscous spice by mixing 30 mL (2 tbsp) ground cumin, 30 mL (2 tbsp) ground coriander and 15 mL (1 tbsp) ground turmeric. Store remaining spices in an airtight container, away from direct sunlight.
- Vary your legumes. Replace chickpeas with navy beans.
