Couscous Salad with Cranberries and Pine Nuts

I can’t believe I’ve waited this long to publish a couscous recipe. As a born and raised Moroccan, one would expect to see my branchy blog burgeoning with couscous recipes of all sorts.

The first time my mom looked at Mon Blogue, she surprisingly and somewhat disappointedly asked: “Feen Kesksou?” , “where is the couscous?” in a tone that suggested that I had screwed up again and made another one of my “pearls” (big mistakes that I specialize in, according to my mom) “Tu as Encore Fait Une Perle?”. The absence of couscous hit her almost as hard as my decision to move to the US.

This weekend, I went shopping for boots. I was picking out what was supposed to be John’s birthday present for me. After many try-on, I finally found the boots of my dreams: a pair of Clarks Artisan Flirty at an unbeatable price.

They were so comfortable. I wore them right there and then at the Florida Mall and walked and walked. I felt taller, more powerful and oh so sexy!

Other than my boot obsession which ended happily, all I was thinking about was couscous. A mother blaming me for a couscous-less blog, readers’ e-mails asking if couscous was really Moroccan, and if so, if I could provide some recipes, not to mention my own guilt for letting everybody down and serving everything but couscous.

I apologize. As usual, I didn’t mean to cause any hard feelings. I just forgot.

Well, it’s time for me to mend fences, time to caress cheeks, time to make couscous. This is only one of many recipes I’ll be making, you’ll be making. I promise

Couscous Salad with Cranberries and Pine Nuts

4 servings

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of water
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon butter
• 1 cup instant couscous
• 1/2 cup pine nuts
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
• 1/4 cup orange juice
• ½ teaspoon grated orange zest
• 2 tablespoons plain yogurt

Directions:

Step 1: Bring the water to a boil. Stir in the salt, butter, and couscous. Remove from the heat, cover, and let stand 5 minutes.

Step 2: Fluff the couscous with a fork and add the pine nuts, cranberries, cinnamon, salt, and pepper. In another bowl, stir together the orange juice, orange zest, and yogurt. Gently incorporate the liquid mixture into the couscous, and toss.

Step 3: Serve the couscous at room temperature in small bowls, plates, or dessert cups. If you wish, garnish with confectioner’s sugar and mint leaves before serving.

source https://www.dinnersanddreams.net/couscous-salad-with-cranberries-and-pine-nuts/

Eggplant Rolls with Goat Cheese, Roasted Pepper and Walnuts

There have been too many recipes on my mind lately that I almost forgot I promised you this wouldn’t be the last eggplant recipe I post this summer.

Luckily some beautiful eggplants in the market reminded me, and I sprang right into the action for fear that I would forget again. Eggplants lend themselves well to the stuffing so I decided to stuff them once more.

But this recipe is quite different; the eggplants are sliced, grilled and filled with a creamy mixture of goat cheese, roasted red bell peppers and walnuts.

It also happens to taste more summery or perhaps simply more appetizer like, but it can be made more substantial if served with fresh crusty bread.

EGGPLANT ROLLS RECIPE

Yield: 10 To 12 Rolls

Prep Time: 30 MIN

Cook Time: 10 MIN

You can use roasted red bell pepper from a jar or do the roasting yourself. If you do it at home, check this recipe for how to roast bell peppers.

Ingredients:

• 1 large eggplant
• Olive oil for brushing
• Salt and ground black pepper
• 5 ounces soft goat cheese, at room temp.
• 1 small garlic clove, pressed
• 1 roasted red bell pepper, minced
• 1/3 cup chopped walnuts
• Minced basil and finely chopped walnuts, for garnish (optional)

Directions:

Step 1: Cut off both ends of the eggplant and slice it thinly lengthwise. You should be able to obtain 10 to 12 slices, about 1/8-inch thick.

Step 2: Brush the eggplant slices generously with olive oil on both sides. (Don’t skimp on oil or they won’t cook through.) Season with salt and pepper on both sides.

Step 3: Heat a griddle pan on the stove over medium-high heat. Grill the eggplant slices until charred, 3 to 5 minutes per side. (I used a Panini press. It did the job nicely and cooked both sides at the same time.) Set aside to cool a bit.

Step 4: Combine the goat cheese, garlic, roasted pepper and walnuts in a bowl. Season with salt and pepper, if you wish, and mix with a spoon.

Step 5: To fill the eggplant slices, place about a tablespoon of the goat cheese mixture on the wider end of the eggplant and roll.

Step 6: Garnish with minced basil and finely chopped walnuts, if you wish. Serve at room temperature with crusty bread.

source https://www.dinnersanddreams.net/eggplant-rolls-with-goat-cheese-roasted-pepper-and-walnuts/

Whole Wheat Apple Cake

I’d like to be able to say that I have finally had the time today to change the age on my profile from 32 to 33 but I’m afraid that doesn’t sound very credible as doing so doesn’t take more than a few seconds. I rather willingly ignored it, believing a year didn’t matter, or so I tried to convince myself. Call it denial.

Call it a white lie. It’s a little bit of both. I never thought in a million years I would lie about my age, even by omission. What decent person does that after all?

Isn’t that something only someone really really old and desperate, or somebody trying to seduce a much younger lover would do —which I’m absolutely, totally, completely not trying to do.

Turning 30 did not faze me the least bit but 33, boy thirty-three, has stirred my peace. It simply seemed like a big number, one that almost qualified as mid-thirties and no longer as the early thirties.

True to form, I found courage and consolation in the cake as I always do when overwhelmed by life’s downpour of shaking events on me. I made an apple cake similar to the one my mom makes. Every bite felt like a face-lift, a balm on my aging, wrinkling body.

Glad I got this off my chest.

Sigh. Silence. Sigh. Silence.

Whole Wheat Apple Cake Recipe

8 servings

Ingredients:

• 1 stick (8tbsps) unsalted butter, softened and cooled
• ½ cup and 2 tablespoons agave syrup
• 3 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup and 2 tablespoons whole wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 3 large apples, cored, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes

Directions:

Step 1: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line an 8- or a 9-inch pan with parchment paper.

Step 2: Using an electric mixer or hand whisk, mix the butter, agave syrup, eggs, and vanilla until well combined.

Step 3: Combine the flour, baking soda and salt in a separate bowl. Add them to the moist mixture. Mix again until the batter is smooth and homogenous.

Step 4: Fold in the apple cubes.

Step 5: Pour the batter in the prepared pan. Bake until the cake is set and slightly browned, about 35 minutes. Cool before unmolding.

source https://www.dinnersanddreams.net/whole-wheat-apple-cake/

Green n’ Gold: Apple and Cucumber Salad with Argan Oil

Liquid gold in a bottle. Precious, precious for your health.

Assemble your salad. Green apples. Cucumbers. Endives.

Drizzle with a drop, after drop, after a drop of gold.

Cucumber and Green Apple Salad with Argan Oil Recipe

4 servings

I chose to keep the dressing simple because argan oil is so tasty and nutty that I wanted it to be the star of the salad and not be overshadowed by other flavors.

To me, it is a one of a kind oil that tastes like liquid almonds, very nutty, subtly fruity and captivating. Argan oil has become very hip in upscale European restaurants in recent years, and I totally see why.

It also has tremendous health benefits. As a substitute, you may use walnut or sesame oil.

Ingredients:

• 1 large green apple, julienned
• 1 medium cucumber, peeled, seeded and julienned
• 1 small endive (optional)
• 1 navel orange, segmented (How to supreme citrus)
• Almonds, for garnish (optional)

Dressing:

• Argan oil, about 2 tablespoons
• Freshly squeezed lemon juice, about 1 tablespoon
• Sea salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

Simply assemble the salad in a bowl. Add the argan oil and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper, if you wish. Toss and serve.

source https://www.dinnersanddreams.net/green-n-gold-apple-and-cucumber-salad-with-argan-oil/