The Parsley Waltz

Last spring Elizabeth and I thought we were going to cook our way through a recipe book that I own called 100 Great Recipes – Vegetarian by Vicki Smallwood.  Put your mind at ease.  We didn’t do it.  You won’t have to suffer through that experience with us.  Turns out that not all 100 recipes were compelling enough to prompt us to buy the ingredients and take the time to experiment. However, we did find a few worthy of our efforts.

Our deal was that one of us would pick the recipe and buy the ingredients, while the other one ‘hosted’ the event (read ‘clean my house’).  We took turns each week; one week at her place, the next at mine.  So, I’m not sure how it happened that Elizabeth picked out the recipe, I ended up buying the ingredients, and then we ended up cooking at her house.

I confess I wasn’t sure what to expect of a recipe call Green Couscous.  Reading over the list of ingredients didn’t help.  But, Elizabeth was determined to try it.  What could I do?  I went shopping.  Cooking day came and I still had my doubts.   We plowed ahead with chopping and heating and tossing.  By the time we took our first bite, all my fears were gone.  Delicious!  We indulged in ‘seconds’ and ‘thirds’.  It was a good thing we doubled the recipe or I wouldn’t have had any to take home for my taste-tester.

It’s a quick recipe that I’d be proud to serve anytime, anywhere.  It’s fresh, loaded with flavor, and uncomplicated.  Curly-leaf parsley and fresh mint waltz together through the bowl with the lemon juice, diced cucumber and tomatoes, and a drizzle of olive oil in this yummy dish…Mmmmm!  The subtle ingredient is the bouillon cube that is added to the hot water before reconstituting the couscous.  It provides a wonderful background of flavors for the star ingredients.  It should been eaten sooner than later, so the mint doesn’t turn wimpy and the cucumbers and tomatoes don’t disintegrate.  But, trust me, that won’t be a problem!  ‘Cause this disappears really FAST!

Green Couscous

INGREDIENTS

1	cup couscous
1	Vegetable stock cube
1	4-inch piece cucumber (English)
2	Large tomatoes
1 ½	oz fresh mint
1 ½	oz fresh curly-leaf parsley
2	T olive oil
2	t lemon juice
	Salt Freshly ground black pepper

1.     Place the couscous in a large bowl.  Dissolve the stock cube (or paste-concentrate) in 1 ¼ cups boiling water, then pour over the couscous and stir once.  Cover with plastic wrap and set to one side to soak for 10-15 minutes.

2.     Halve the cucumber.  Use a teaspoon to remove the seeds from the cucumber and discard.  Now cut the flesh into fine dice.

3.     Remove the seeds from the tomatoes and discard.  Cut the flesh into fine dice.

4.     Remove all the stalks from the mint and parsley and then finely chop.

5.     Add the olive oil and lemon juice to the couscous, along with the tomatoes and cucumbers, and fork through. Season to taste and serve.

Serves 4