Spiced Couscous & Vegetables with Baked Salmon

This is one great recipe and one both my husband and I thoroughly enjoyed. I prepared this for my husband's success on CISCO (part of his career development as a network engineer) at that time. This was one of the things I tried at the beginning of my cooking escapades and it did help me to keep on cooking because it was so good - I wanted to do another recipe that I would be proud of again. And it was easy to do, too. The spiced flavour of the couscous paired with the baked salmon - yuummmm. Even while I'm blogging now - I am thinking of revisiting this recipe this weekend. On top of all that, the couscous and vegetables recipe is guaranteed low fat - a very healthy recipe indeed.

So do try this. Hope you'll enjoy as much as we did. :-)

SPICED COUSCOUS and VEGETABLES

 Ingredients:

1 tbsp olive oil

1 large shallot, peeled and finely chopped

1 garlic clove, peeled and finely chopped

1 small red pepper, deseeded and cut into strips

1 small yellow pepper, deseeded and cut into strips

1 small aubergine or 2 medium size egg plants

1 tsp each turmeric, ground cumin, ground cinnamon and paprika

2 tsp ground coriander

large pinch saffron strands (as this is quite expensive in Australia, I just used 1/2 tsp of imitation saffron powder)

2 tomatoes, peeled, deseeded and diced

2 tbsp lemon juice

225 g couscous

225 ml vegetable stock

2 tbsp raisins

2 tbsp almonds

2 tbsp freshly chopped parsley

2 tbsp freshly chopped coriander

salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. Heat the oil in a large frying pan and add the shallot and garlic and cook for 2-3 minutes until softened. Add the peppers and aubergine or egg plant and reduce the heat.

2. Cook for 8-10 minutes until the vegetables are tender, adding a little water if necessary.

3. Test a piece of aubergine or egg plant to ensure it is cooked through. Add all the spices and cook for a further minute, stirring.

4. Increase the heat and add the tomatoes and lemon juice. Cook for 2-3 minutes until the tomatoes have started to break down. Remove from heat and leave to cook slightly.

5. Meanwhile, put the couscous into a large bowl. Bring the stock to the boil in a saucepan, then pour over the couscous. Stir well and cover with a clean tea towel.

6. Leave to stand for 7-8 munutes until all the stock is absorbed and the couscous is tender.

7. Uncover the couscous and fluff with a fork. Stir in the vegetable and spice mixture along with the raisins, almonds, parsley and coriander. Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve.

BAKED SALMON

Ingredients:

2 salmon steak fillets

half of lemon

salt and pepper

1. Preheat the oven at 180 deg celcius. 

2. Drizzle the salmon with olive oil and lemon then, season with salt and pepper.

3. Wrap the salmon with aluminum foil and place in a baking dish or tray.

4. Bake for about 20-25 mins. Then, serve hot with slices of lemons and couscous.