Recipe Wednesday--Antipasto Couscous with Chickpeas

Another dreary day here.  Not a lot of rain, just clouds and love bugs.  Jim did a lot of vacuuming and dusting and I stripped the bed and washed sheets.  Also gave Boo a bath.  It's just after 1700 still cloudy, getting dark and the rain has started again.

I've not tried this recipe but I like couscous and Chickpeas!  If you make it let me know how it tastes

Antipasto Couscous with Chickpeas

By Sharon Palmer, RD

A staple in North African cuisine, couscous is actually small pieces of semolina pasta made from whole grain flour. My whole grain couscous dish is based on a variety of flavorful preserved vegetables, such as sun-dried tomatoes, roasted peppers, and marinated artichoke hearts. You can keep these ingredients in your pantry and make this wholesome one-dish meal at a moment’s notice. And it’s just as good served cold as a salad.

Makes 6 servings

Ingredients:

1 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 Garlic cloves, minced
1/2 medium Red Onion, chopped
1/3 cup Sun-Dried Tomatoes, sliced
Half 12-ounce jar drained, sliced Fire-Roasted Red or Yellow Peppers (about ½ cup)
1/2 cup canned marinated Mushrooms, drained
Half 12-ounce jar marinated Artichoke Hearts, drained and sliced (about 1/2 cup)
1 cup cooked or canned Chickpeas (Garbanzo Beans), no salt added, rinsed and drained
1/4 cup pitted Green Olives, drained
1 Tbsp Capers
1-1/2 cups Water
1 tsp Balsamic Vinegar
1/2 tsp Lemon Pepper
1/2 tsp Smoked Paprika
1 tsp dried Oregano
1 cup uncooked Whole Wheat Couscous
1/3 cup chopped Pistachios
Instructions:

Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan. Add the garlic and onion and saute for 5 minutes.
Stir in the tomatoes, peppers, mushrooms, artichokes, chickpeas, olives, capers, water, vinegar, lemon pepper, paprika, and oregano. Cook until bubbly, about 3 minutes.
Pour the couscous over the vegetable mixture (do not stir) then cover the pan and remove from the heat. Let stand for 5 minutes.
Remove the cover and fluff the couscous with a fork. Sprinkle with the pistachios and serve immediately.
Notes: Chill this dish to serve it as a salad. If you plan on serving it much later, reserve the pistachios to keep them from getting soggy and sprinkle them on at the last minute.

Per serving (about 1-1/8 cups):

Calories: 240, Carbohydrate: 38 g, Fiber: 6 g, Protein: 8 g, Total fat: 6 g, Saturated fat: 1 g, Sodium: 252 mg

Star nutrients: Vitamin C (20% DV), niacin (10% DV), folate (13% DV), iron (11% DV)

Recipe from The Plant-Powered Diet: The Lifelong Eating Plan for Achieving Optimal Health, Beginning Today, copyright © Sharon Palmer, 2012. Reprinted by permission of the publisher, The Experiment. Available June 2012.