From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...We were given two beautiful tuna steaks today and I wanted to pair them them with something that would highlight, rather than mask, their flavor. We haven't had Israeli couscous in an age, and I thought this would be a great time to start working it back into our meals. I also had a bag of it in my pantry that had to be used before it became fodder for the compost pile. My first adventure with the grain was a sorry looking mess that tasted like a lumpy gruel and looked like BB pellets. The fault was entirely mine, and normally, I would have given myself credit for the old college try and moved on to something else. However, I was sick to death of rice and potatoes, so I decided to give the couscous one more try. I looked around but couldn't find a recipe that appealed to me, but the 2 cups of couscous sitting on my pantry shelf kept nagging at me. Sad to say that most most of my creations start as failures. For those of you not familiar with the product, Israeli couscous is a small, round semolina pasta. It's sometimes called pearl couscous or maftoul, and it resembles barley or very small, white peas. I wanted to give the couscous as much flavor as possible, so I decided to toast it and use spring vegetables to give it more flavor and take it to another level. I'm happy to report my fixes worked and the recipe has achieved "keeper" status in our household. While I highly recommended this dish, I do have a small caution to share with you. Not everyone likes the chewy texture or size of these pellets. Unfortunately, there is really nothing you can do about that, so do be forewarned and consider working with a smaller pasta. Here is how my version of Israeli couscous is made.
