People, I don’t have to tell you…it’s hot. In about mid-July I was still using my oven–I couldn’t part with it. But now? Well, me and the oven are through. I’ve broken up with it and told it to go find love in a more northern clime. It’s not going to get any here. I will consider making up with it in mid-October, right about the time I’m craving pumpkin bread. I’m a user.
For now, I’m only considering recipes that require stove-top cooking for under 20 minutes. That’s all I have to give. Rices and pastas are great for this time of year because many of them you can eat hot or cold and they just don’t require much cooking. Plus, you can add anything you have on hand, and you’ve got yourself a fairly substantial meal.
Have you ever tried pearl cous cous? I LOVE IT. Pearl cous cous is larger than regular cous cous–meaning each individual piece of pasta is about the size of a stud (earring that is. I know what you were thinking). I love the texture more than regular cous cous and it seems so much more filling to me.
This a great dish for the summertime, when it’s too hot to cook, and you’ve got so many cucumbers, you are running out of things to do with them. Start out by chopping up a cucumber. Season it with salt and pepper. I always use sea salt to season vegetables.
Add toasted pine nuts
Add goat cheese
Add cooked chicken breast
Add dried cranberries
Add cooked pearl cous cous
Add herb of choice. I like basil.
That’s it! This can be served warm or cold. Enjoy!
Chicken and Cous Cous with Cucumber and Goat Cheese
Serves 2-3
Feel free to play around with these ingredients. Glenn said he would have preferred a little less cucumber. I on the other hand, normally don’t really like cucumber, but I loved it in this dish. I think it really worked well with the goat cheese.
1 medium cucumber, chopped and seasoned with salt and pepper
1/4 cup toasted pine nuts
2 oz goat cheese (I absolutely love Belle Chevre goat cheese. It’s local and it’s so creamy and tasty.)
1 large chicken breast, cooked (I seasoned mine with sea salt and pepper and cooked it in olive oil in a cast-iron skillet)
1/4 cup cranberries
1 cup pearl cous cous (cooked according to package instructions). I added a sauteed Vidalia onion to this (about a 1/4 cup of onion)
Salt and pepper to taste
Handful of chopped basil on top (parsely would also be good)
birminghamfoodgirl 