Easy Tomato Couscous Lunch Recipe

Tags

couscous, diet, garlic, healthy recipe, onion, tomato, vegan diet, vegan food, vegan recipe, vegan runner, weight loss

After coming back from vacation my stomach really hasn’t been able to handle much of anything, since I have some sort of nasty bug. Grrrr to whoever gave it to me. This nasty airborne bug for some reason comes with the side-effects of tomato cravings. Weird right? To tell the truth, normally warmed tomatoes aren’t something I crave but as I tackle this bug, there just aren’t enough tomatoes in our house. This is a recipe that I learned to toss together this last week for lunch that contains enough nutrients to provide my fragile immune system.

¼ c couscous
1 c leafy greens (I used Japanese spinach, kale and/or collard leaves)
1 can tomatoes with juices
3 cloves garlic, sliced
¼ c onions, chopped
½ tsp cumin
¼ tsp turmeric

1. Toss it all in a pot on high on the stove. Bring to a boil and stir until mixed well. Turn to medium-high heat and cover. Heat for about 5 minutes so that hot steam can really build-up.
2. Turn off the heat but do not remove the lid. Leave for about 5 minutes so that the couscous can continue to cook without using heat.
3. Place in a bowl and devour!

Variation on Cooking:
Toss all the ingredients in a pot on high heat. Continuously cook on high for about five minutes until it is all finished. I did this one day when I was grouchy, had no patience and was starving. Works both ways, just depends on you attitude and time restrictions.

Egyptian Eggplant Dish Promise

Tags

arabic vegan, eggplant, future recipe, tomato

Oh my, oh my… This last week, as you all very well known from my numerous whining moments, I have had a cold that really was kicking my back end. I have been so tired and not able to concentrate that dinners have not been the most exciting. I think our wonderful neighbor felt sorry for my sad condition (truthfully I hardly ever get sick) and she so thoughtfully prepared an eggplant dish for the husband and me. Thank you so much Nida!!!

She and her husband tend to eat more Middle Eastern dishes since both were born in Jordan. Hello authentic Arabic foods!!! Yum! So, when she handed me this warm tomato and eggplant dish, I completely jumped with delight! Okay, so maybe at the time I was half awake but afterwards I totally sighed with relieve that I didn’t have to find something to put together for dinner for the two of us. It was a blessing from God that night.

Then when we warmed it up again I completely fell in love with Nida’s cooking. Yum! Tomatoes, eggplant, extra garlic (just for me… hehe) and hot pepper and I was hooked. When I pleaded with her to share her recipe for my house and to share with all of you she was more than willing. She probably feared me holding some of our homemade goodies for ransom or something like that, haha. But hey, I will gladly take the recipe no matter what the method of retrieval. Yep, it was that good.

Unfortunately like most good cooks, she doesn’t measure so my recipe goes like this:
As much garlic as you like
As much hot pepper as you like
As much tomato as you like
And so on.

So funny right! So, I’m going to test it out and see what I can come up with as far as measurements for all of you. Seriously though, if I put in all the garlic I wanted I’m be stuffing in entire bulbs at once. Haha She still has to get to know me better before stating as much garlic as I like…

So for now I’m leaving you with just the title and the photo. I promise I will try to recreate it and also try to not overdo the garlic. Anyone know a good recipe for this photo?

Easy Tomato Couscous Lunch Recipe

Tags

couscous, diet, healthy recipe, tomato, vegan diet, vegan recipe, vegan runner, weight loss

Lately I have been trying to eat natural foods that are kept from all processing, hoping it will give my body more energy. So for lunch I decided to make something with the ingredients in our fridge and cabinet that most other people would also have on most occasions. Here’s the recipe:

1 can diced tomatoes (try organic and salt free)
1/4 c dry couscous
2 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced
1 tsp cumin, ground
1/2 c collard leaves, thinly sliced
2 tsp hot sauce

Toss all the ingredients in a large sauce pan and sauté the mixture for about 5 minutes in total. Stirring constantly is essential so that the tomato sauce that forms doesn’t splatter all over your stove. (You can probably guess what my stove looked like…oops) Once everything is warmed through and the tomato juice has thickened and reduced, it’s ready to eat. It literally takes about 7-10 minutes from start to finish. It’s so easy and healthy. Best yet, it’s less than 300 calories for the entire plate!