Israeli Couscous Is So Cute.

I have a huge amount of Israeli couscous, because I really like the stuff and I forgot I already had a huge bag so I bought another huge bag when I went to the coop last week.

GUESS WHAT THAT MEANS!

SO. MUCH. ISRAELI. COUSCOUS. IN. MY. FUTURE.

I actually make a lot of this stuff because it's really just a form of pasta. It's tiny little balls of pasta. Cute. :)

Veganomicon had a recipe for it, so I decided to try it this past weekend.

Israeli Couscous With Pistachios and Apricots Pg 117

Ingredients

2 tbsp vegetable oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups Israeli couscous
2 1/2 cups water
1 cinnamon stick
1 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp ground cardamom
several pinches of freshly ground black pepper
1/2 tsp salt
zest from 1 lime
1/4 cup chopped fresh mint
1/2 cup chopped dried apricots, chopped to the size of raisins
1/2 cup shelled pistachios
Juice from 1/2 lime

Preheat a large heavy-bottomed skillet over medium-low heat. Place the garlic and oil in the pan and saute for 1 minute.

Add the couscous, raise the heat to medium, and stir pretty constantly for 4 - 5 minutes; the couscous should start to toast.

(Note: Do you see the smiley face? If you do, I'll give you a cookie...or maybe even a gold star!)

Add the water, cinnamon stick, cumin, cardamom, pepper, salt, and lime zest.

Raise the heat and bring to a boil. Once the mixture is boiling, lower the heat again to as low as possible and cover. (We know, lots of raising and lowering the heat but that's cooking for you.) In about 10 minutes, most of the water should have been absorbed. Add 2 tbsp of the mint, and the apricots, pistachios, and lime juice.

Look at how pretty the pistachios and apricots are! I LOVE GREEN AND ORANGE TOGETHER. They are literally my favorite colors. <3

Stir, cover again, and cook for 5 more minutes. At this point, the water should be thoroughly absorbed.

Remove the cinnamon stick, fluff the couscous with a fork, garnish with remaining mint, and serve.

RATINGS:

Deliciousness: 3/5
It was really....sweet. It's a white pasta with fruit and nuts and sweet-ish spices. I don't know what I was expecting, I think if I make this again (only likely because I have SO much Israeli couscous / pistachios) I will add some cayenne pepper or something to give it a boost of spice.

Ease of Preparation: 4/5
It took a surprisingly longish time to make, about 40 minutes. Not terribly long, still, but I expected it to take about 20.

Prettiness: 5/5
It's little cute balls of delightfullness with green pistachios and orange apricots! Favorite colors, so I'm probably biased....SO COOL-LOOKING.