I love my job. Partly because I enjoy being picky about the English language and partly because reviewing a plethora of recipes and health-related articles each week fills me with nutritional wisdom and a desire to discover more.
Of course, being a copyeditor doesn’t make you a great cook. But with time, patience, and a healthy appetite, we can all learn.
The first step to a flourishing learning process is curiosity. It was this persistent state of affairs that led me to wander down the pasta aisle of my local grocery store the other day, dawdling through grains, hoping heavenly inspiration would strike me with a great dinner idea. And then I caught a glimpse of the calamitous crop that ruined my adolescence: couscous.
Growing up in a Mediterranean family comes with a mother who is an excellent cook, who is obsessed with nutrition and, in the name of health, often feeds you the most hateful concoctions. As fate would have it, couscous, along with clam chowder and bean soup, all dire substances for naive youngsters, were a weekly treat.
Although I acquired a taste for everything else, couscous was still a challenge. Still, week after week, as I sat at the table for hours, poking through my plate of smelly couscous, I certainly digested the fact that couscous is necessary. And yes, there is no way around it, couscous is good for you. Packed with vitamins, minerals, calcium, and other nutrients, this grain supports digestive health and protects against disease.
So today, as I watched my childhood enemy, I already smelled a new challenge: Buy it, squeeze out the nutrients, and find a way to enjoy it.
Images of food shows, cookbook illustrations, and even the creations of my college friend, Martin, who was headed to culinary school, came to mind. Top chef, Saveur, wild rice – it was this last one that made me stop. Yeah, I remembered that wild rice. It was Wednesday, and Martin had found another way to change my mind and go out with him: creating magic in the bedroom kitchen, with skinless chicken breasts and wild rice. The taste had been lackluster at the end, and I, I’ll admit, may have left it to do the dishes. But what was now relevant to my situation is the color of that wild rice: white with flecks of brown. What was that brown?
Thanks to a Crunchy Breakfast recipe I had edited a week earlier, I was suddenly reminded of a brown ingredient: flaxseed. Packed with countless disease-fighting benefits, these omega-3 fatty acid superstars would enhance the benefits of the couscous AND complement the look of the dish. So I grabbed a pack and left the store, after paying a few bucks, of course, as soon as possible.
A few hours later, the familiar smell wafted into my kitchen. But it was a different smell this time. By this time I had gotten more creative and added garlic and tomatoes to the pot. And it had all taken me only about 15 minutes. Now, without further ado, I will share with you the procedure:
Ingredients
4 cups of water
1/2 cup couscous
1/2 medium onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely minced
1 whole tomato, chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
flax seed
Addresses
1. Bring water to a boil, then add couscous, oil, minced garlic, and seasonings.
2. Cook for several minutes, then add the onion and tomatoes.
3. After a few more minutes, add the flaxseed.
4. Allow to cook for no more than 7 minutes, then carefully remove and drain excess water.
Total cooking time was about 15 minutes. The flaxseed added a crunchy touch to the couscous, while the tomatoes contributed a full, sweet flavor, adding more superstar health points.
However, in the end, I was still not convinced by the taste of the couscous. Sitting at my kitchen counter, tasting the chunks again, I felt like I’d lost the challenge and now had a three-day supply of terrible couscous. Something was missing.
Defeated, I wrapped up the food and headed to my room. Yet it ate at me and I couldn’t let go. I went online and wondered what I should write. And after meaningless, disoriented paragraphs, I decided to start from the beginning, retrace my steps and understand the essential nature of what I had done.
And slowly, the idea suddenly occurred to me: I had cooked the couscous, and although the pot had included other tasty things, the flavors had melded into one smooth taste. And then, the fix: all the plate needed was a kick. A kick of fresh vegetables, a little spice, and maybe an added component for a complete meal. Thank goodness for that bell pepper she’d bought for a salad that had come undone with the couscous stealing the show that afternoon. And holy smoke, lucky I still had another whole tomato, the other half of the onion, AND – the secret ingredient – spicy jalapeños. And it was those two chicken legs I saw in the freezer?
You can guess the results, or you can look at the image. And since both are equally good, I’m going to continue with the procedure and share the success with you here:
additions
1 whole tomato
6 (depending on taste) jalaenos
1/2 onion
2 chicken thighs, baked, shredded
Just two things to keep in mind: Chop the tomato, jalapeños, and onion coarsely to maintain flavor. Add the chicken legs and drizzle with olive oil and a little lemon, for extra kick points. By now, though, you’re so far ahead that even without the lemon, you’ve won the challenge. Which, as it turns out, isn’t at all about winning or losing, or even about Mom’s terrible recipe.
It’s about understanding the nature of what you’re cooking and what you want to achieve.
