CHICKEN COUS COUS WITH LENTILS & VEGGIES (the dish that started it all!)
Ingredients: (yields about 10-12 portions)
- 1 cup whole wheat Cous Cous (you can also use regular cous cous)
- 1/2 chicken breast (about 4 oz)
- 1 generous cup chicken broth
- 1 cup steamed lentils (available ready-made and vacuum-packed at Trader Joe's in the produce section)
- 1/2 cup baby carrots
- 1/2 cup baby zucchini or chopped regular zucchini
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1/8 tsp ground cumin
Steam the carrots and zucchini until they're really soft and set aside. Bring chicken broth to a boil in a medium saucepan, turn off the heat, add the cumin, stir, add the Cous Cous, stir and cover for about a minute, then fluff with a fork and add some more chicken broth so it doesn't dry out. Sautee the chicken in olive oil over medium heat until golden, done and moist inside (about 8 minutes). Shred well with knife and fork and add it to the Cous Cous along with the lentils. Cut steamed zucchini and carrots into rice-grain-size pieces and add to the Cous Cous. Stir well, so no pockets of "just cous cous" or "just vegetables" are left. I recommend using a fork for this.
Variations: Instead of Chicken you can use Fish, Scrambled Egg, Beef or Tofu, following the same recipe, but I'd skip the Cumin if you use Beef. Or, skip the protein and make it just vegetarian, mixing in any vegetable you want. You can also use Vegetable or Fish broth instead of Chicken broth, though the kids seem to be more attracted to the chicken flavor. Be creative!
Freezing tip: I use little ziploc bags to freeze individual portions, shaping the cous cous inside the bag into a flat rectangle. That way it stacks nicely in the freezer and defrosts at room temperature in about 30 min.
Reheating tip: Place in bowl, add about 1/2 tbsp of chicken broth, cover and heat in microwave in a covered bowl for about 20 seconds, stir well & serve (if you're taking it right out of the freezer, heat it for 20 seconds to defrost before adding the chicken broth and then follow the reheating instructions above). Cous Cous, especially the whole wheat kind, will suck up any liquid you give it, so adding some before reheating will make it nice and moist. Use more or less broth depending on how dry/soupy your child likes it.