Curry Some Flavor

I was presenting at my church’s health fair a few years ago and they were hosting a guest chef, The Guiding Knife, for a cooking demonstration. One of the entrees that I sampled was this curry couscous w/ chickpeas dish that was UH-MAZING. It’s was originally made to be a great vegetarian entree or side, but I like to add some chicken/shrimp for a full meat/seafood entree. What’s even better? When you break down the total cost of the ingredients, it’s roughly $1.50 per serving!!

Recipe (serves 8)

1 cup orange juice

1/2 cup water

1/4 tsp. allspice

3/4 cup couscous

2T olive oil

1 sweet potato, diced

1 onion, diced

1 red bell pepper, diced

2 carrots, diced

3 cloves garlic, chopped

1 1/2 tsp. curry powder

1 12 oz can chickpeas, rinsed and drained

1/2 cup raisins

3T cilantro, chopped

salt & pepper

1. Clean and cut the vegetables about the same size. Toss the vegetables with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
2. Roast the vegetables on a cookie sheet at 400ºF until golden, about 45 minutes
3. Meanwhile, combine 1/2 cup of orange juice and the water in a saucepan over medium high heat. Stir in the allspice. Bring to a boil and stir in the couscous, cover, remove from the heat and let stand for 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork.
4. If you are adding chicken or shrimp, season with pepper/salt and saute in a medium frying pan until fully cooked
5. Heat the remaining orange juice in a saucepan, add the curry powder, raisins and chickpeas, cook for 2 minute. Remove from heat and stir in cilantro.
6. Combine together roasted vegetables and meat, if desired, and stir.
7.  Serve hot over couscous or mix all together in a bowl. Voila!