Couscous and Vegetables, Breaded Asparagus, Cumin Rice & Tomatoes

I like to joke that I grew up a vegetarian. I remember eating vegetables stews, beans, and pastas. On occasion we would get bagged frozen chicken, but that was the extent of the meat I ate growing up. It was a real treat when once a year I would get to eat steak at my Uncle's house. But since I didn't eat a lot of meat as a child, it isn't hard for me to embrace vegetarian eating. While I don't think I'll go completely vegetarian, I think I can easily go a few weeks without eating meat with all these great vegetarian recipes! Below are a few meals that Michael and I thought looked good and tried this week.

The Cumin Rice With Tomatoes was a good meal, and I had a ton of left-overs that tasted great as well. The only thing I would caution you is that I ended up with a lot of excess water after boiling the rice, so I ended up draining the excess water, which isn't called for in the recipe.

The Breaded Asparagus recipe calls for a mint dip, which I didn't try, so I omitted it from the recipe below.

The Couscous with Seven Vegetables was difficult for me to actually start, because I couldn't find fava beans. After trying multiple grocery stores, I opted for edamame instead. Also, if you don't have Saffron and don't have $20 to spend on a jar of spice, you could opt out of using it. It tasted good, but you can add extra flavor to the vegetables and leave the couscous plain if you wish.

-Sarah

Cumin Rice With Tomatoes

From "Vegetarian: Create Great-Tasting Dishes through the Seasons" by Ting Morris, Rachel Lane and Carla Bardi

Ingredients:

3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

1 large onion, finely chopped

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

6 medium tomatoes, peeled and chopped

1 1/2 cups long grain rice

4 cups boiling water

2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley + extra sprigs to garnish

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 tomato, thinly sliced, to garnish

Directions:

Heat the oil in a large saucepan over low heat. Add the onion, cumin seeds, and garlic and saute until the garlic turns pale gold, 3-4 minutes. Add the chopped tomatoes.

Stir in the rice and pour in the water. Bring to a boil. Cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the rice is tender and has absorbed all of the liquid, 10-15 minutes.

Add the parsley and season with salt and pepper. Garnish with slices of tomato and the sprigs of parsley. Serve hot.

Breaded Asparagus

From "Vegetarian: Create Great-Tasting Dishes through the Seasons" by Ting Morris, Rachel Lane and Carla Bardi

Ingredients:
1 pound asparagus, trimmed
2 large eggs
3 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese
4 cups vegetable oil, for frying
1 cup fine, dry bread crumbs

Directions:
Cook the asparagus in a large pot of salted boiling water until almost tender, about 5 minutes. Drain well and dry carefully on a clean towel.
Beat the eggs and Parmesan in a small bowl.
Heat the oil in a deep-fryer or deep saucepan. Test the oil temperature by dropping in a small piece of bread. If it immediately bubbles to the surface and begins to turn golden, the oil is ready.
Dip the asparagus in the beaten eggs and then in the bread crumbs, making sure they are well coated.
Fry the asparagus in small batches until golden brown, 3-4 minutes each batch.
Drain on paper towels.

Couscous With Seven Vegetables

From "Vegetarian: Create Great-Tasting Dishes through the Seasons" by Ting Morris, Rachel Lane and Carla Bardi

Ingredients:

1 1/3 cups water

4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Salt

2 cups couscous

1/8 teaspoon saffron threads

2 tablespoons butter

2 large onions, finely chopped

3 carrots, thinly sliced

1 yellow summer squash, thinly sliced

1 cup fresh fava beans

2 large tomatoes, peeled and chopped

1/2 medium green or white cabbage, finely shredded

1 (14-ounce) can garbanzo beans, drained

1/4 cup raisins

Fresh cilantro to garnish

Directions:

Bring the water to a boil in a large saucepan over medium heat.

Add 1 tablespoon of oil and salt to taste (about 1/2 teaspoon).

Stir in the couscous and saffron and mix well.

Remove from the heat, cover, and keep warm.

Heat the remaining 3 tablespoons of oil and the butter in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add the onions and saute until softened, 3-4 minutes.

Add the carrots, squash, zucchini, fava beans, tomatoes, and cabbage and simmer over medium-low heat until the vegetables are tender, 15-20 minutes.

Stir in the garbanzo beans and raisins and cook until heated through, about 5 minutes.

Spoon over the couscous and serve hot, garnished with cilantro.