Crazy for...

Holding true to the The Prophet’s wisdom, I have always strived to be more like my kiddoes instead of parenting “mini-me’s”. And, I have learned so much from them. Therefore, I have dutifully and happily followed their lead into Israeli couscous! Mom also fell in line and had this recipe ready and waiting to mix up. Think the kiddoes would love this…we are all crazy for this really fun to eat couscous!

Couscous with Apricots, Chickpeas and Olives (adapted from Newsday)

½ cup orange juice
2 cups veggie broth
1 cup couscous
1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint (or more...see note)
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 cup chopped red onion
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
3 cloves garlic, minced
½ teaspoon ground cumin
1 cup shelled edamame
1/3 cup pitted Kalamata olives, coarsely chopped
1 15-ounce can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1/3 cup dried apricots, thinly sliced\
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar

½ teaspoon salt

Bring OJ and ¾ cup broth to a boil; stir in the couscous and mint, cover and remove from heat. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion, ginger, garlic and cumin and cook, stirring occasionally, 3-4 minutes or until onions are translucent. Add the remaining 1 ¼ cups of broth and edamame, cook for 2 minutes * Add the olives, chickpeas, apricots, vinegar and salt and cook 5 minutes, until most of the liquid had evaporated. Use a fork to fluff the couscous and combine with the vegetable mixture. Serves 4.

*Note: Next time I make this, I am not going to cook the edamame or maybe will just blanch it. It turned a funky color following the recipe exactly. Ha...I definitely should look more into the "intuitive" nature of cooking like my kiddoes do! Garnishing with extra chopped fresh mint helped brighten this up and so did the apricot "flower". It is really good hot and tomorrow night, we are going to try it cold. Either way, it's de-lish. Mom loved it!