A couple of years ago I threw a dinner party for a whole bunch of people, including a ton of vegetarians. I was totally intimidated to cook for vegetarians, since everything my family eats involves at least one kind of meat product smothered in cheese. But I decided to be brave and try something. I had just discovered Israeli couscous – it’s bigger and thicker than the kind I was used to – and I thought it would lend itself to making a kind of vegetarian stew. Instead of all the fat and animal products providing the thickening, the starch from the couscous would. It was a major hit, even with my meat loving family.
Curried Couscous
1 onion
4 potatoes
6 carrots
6 C of chicken broth (or vegetable broth if you’re going vegan)
2 tsp curry powder
1 1/2 C Israeli couscous
salt
Peel the vegetables and chop them roughly into bite-sized pieces. Add them to the chicken broth and curry powder, and cook at a medium low heat until close to tender. Add couscous and cook until soft.
If you’d like it to be a looser stew, just add some more broth. If you’d like it to be a little tighter like a salad, just cook for a little longer. Either way, serve it with some great bread – my favorite is naan – and get down to grubbing.
