Roasted Vegetable Couscous
Grilled Salmon and Chicken
Individual lemon cakes with lemon cream cheese frosting
I love to cook!! My husband was planning on going out to dinner last night, but my daughter and I decided to make dinner and dessert and surprise him when he came home. We had a busy week of running around and thought a night at home with a good meal would fit the bill. I wanted to make something quick and easy, so I pulled out my roasted vegetable couscous recipe and decided to do a quick marinade for chicken (I had a piece of salmon left that I threw in there too!).
The couscous has a lot of ingredients, but goes together quick. Most of the prep is with the vegetables, but they are left in the oven to roast, so you can enjoy a glass of wine while they cook!! It is a recipe that I developed years ago and everytime I make it, people ask me for the recipe, so I thought I'd share.
For the lemon cake I used The Barefoot Contessa's lemon yogurt pound cake recipe and Martha Stewart's cream cheese frosting recipe with lemon juice and lemon zest added. I made the cake in a sheet pan and cut out hearts with a cookie cutter. I used 2 hearts with frosting inbetween and then frosted the whole little cake, 2 slices of strawberry on top completed it. Simple and delicious!!
Simple Marinade:
- 1 c ranch dressing
- 1/2 c red wine vinegar
- zest of 1 lemon
- juice of 1/2 lemon
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- ground black pepper
- 1/2 c parmesan cheese
mix ingredients together and place in chicken (4 large breasts for the amounts above), cover and place in refridgerater. Bake or grill.
Roasted Vegetable Couscous:
Roasted Vegetables:
- 1 large sweet potato, cubed
- 1 red pepper, cubed
- 1 orange pepper, cubed
- 4 carrots peeled and sliced
- Place vegetables on roasting sheet, cover with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake at 350 deg. until tender
Couscous:
- 1 box couscous (about 4 c, I make the whole box because it keeps for a few days and is good served cold for lunches!!)
- 2 c chicken broth (or follow box directions)
- 1 can chick peas
- 3 tbls curry powder
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- In a sauce pan, place chicken broth, chick peas, curry powder and garlic. Bring to a boil. Turn off stove and pour in couscous, let sit for about 5 mins until broth is absorbed and couscous is tender.
Dressing and garnish:
- juice of 1/2 lemon
- zest of 1 lemon
- 1/4 redwine vinegar and oil dressing
- flat leaf parsley
- 1 avocado
- chopped green onion
Putting it together:
- combine roasted vegetables and couscous in bowl
- add lemon juice and zest
- add vinegar and oil
- black pepper to taste
- add green onion
- toss
- garnish with avocado and flat leaf parsley
- have a glass of wine and enjoy!!
