Israeli Couscous with Mushrooms and Mixed Vegetables

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.

Lentil and Barley Soup

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...The bird's are back and that's an omen around here. No matter how terrible the weather, the robins and their bickering are a sure sign that spring is on the horizon. That doesn't push back the chill, but it makes it easier to surrender to the limitations of days that are often dank and gray. My real weapon is my stockpot, which I don't bother to put away at this time of year. Years ago, women in the neighborhood where I grew up, kept soup pots, some filled only with water, simmering on the stove to provide humidity throughout the winter. Truth be told, I think that spoiled me. The aromas of slow-simmering soups and bread baking are as much a part of my winters as the Christmas tree and pond ice. Our furnace has a humidifier, but on really cold, dank days I still make soup and let it steam my kitchen windows as it perfumes the house. Today was a bread and soup day. I adore limpa bread and while it rose, I toured my pantry. Actually, these days my pantry is a series of storage shelves whose content has to be monitored in a near-religious fashion. If I want to put something in, something has to come out. I had lentils and barley whose time had come and I decided to use them as the base of a meatless soup. I had no recipe in mind, so what turned out to be a delicious soup, was a pinch of this and that creation. I do hope you'll give this lovely winter soup a try. I took careful notes, so I can share how it's made.