This recipe comes from Pamela Braun who writes the blog My Man’s Belly.  She believes that the best way to a man’s (or woman’s) heart is through the stomach.  Food is something that is meant to be enjoyed and shared with those we love. We hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we do!

Mediterranean Whole Wheat Pearl Couscous with Scallops

Serves 4-6

• 2 cups Bob’s Red Mill Whole Wheat Pearl Couscous
• 2-½ cups Water
• 2 Tbsp Olive Oil
• 1 large Shallot (sliced thin)
• ½  – 3/4 Preserved Lemon
• 1 medium size Fennel Bulb (white part only – diced)
• 1-¼ cups Chicken Stock
• 8 ounces Bay Scallops
• Kosher Salt
• Freshly Ground Black Pepper
• ½ cup chopped Fresh Parsley

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Bring water to a boil in 4 quart saucepan and add in the pearl couscous.  Bring back to a boil, reduce heat to simmer and continue to cook until all of the water has been absorbed or for 10 minutes.  (Don’t cook it any longer than that.) Then remove from heat.

In a small sauté pan, heat olive oil until it shimmers.  Add in the sliced shallot and reduce heat to medium low.  Cook shallots until they begin to caramelize and turn brown.  You’ll need to stir them from time to time so that they don’t burn.  Continue cooking the shallots until they are a nice golden brown color then remove from heat.

Take the preserved lemon and cut it into quarters.  You’ll only use ½  – ¾ of it.  You can put the remaining lemon back into the jar.  Remove the insides of the lemon, so you are left with the yellow rind.  Rinse well under cool running water.  Finely chop the preserved lemon so that you have really small pieces.

Drain any remaining water from the couscous and return couscous to the pot.  Add the caramelized shallots and the oil they were cooked in, chopped preserved lemon, diced fennel and chicken stock to the couscous.  Stir to combine everything thoroughly.  Taste and then add some salt and pepper.  Make sure you taste first, before adding any more salt.  The preserved lemons already have quite a bit of salt in them, so you want to make sure it’s not too salty.

Pour this mixture into an 8”x8” pan and top with scallops.

Cover tightly with foil and bake for 20 minutes.

Remove the foil and cook for an additional 7 minutes (this will brown the top a bit and give you some nice crunchy pieces of couscous).

Top with chopped fresh parsley.

Serve.

This fun breakfast twist on Whole Wheat Pearl Couscous comes form Tina of The Wandering Eater. Of her blog, Tina writes, “The Wandering Eater is devoted to food that tastes good. It ranges from restaurant reviews to recipes I’ve cooked at home that reflects my food preferences of being flavorful, interesting yet somewhat familiar.” While this recipe certainly seems geared towards breakfast, we think it would make a great dinner too!

This lovely recipe for Curried Pearl Couscous comes from Hannah Voss-Surges of the blog Alimental and is part of our month long Whole Wheat Pearl Couscous celebration. Alimental is a candid account of her everyday life as she strives to balance all aspects of a healthy lifestyle. Alimental focuses on simple and delicious plant-based recipes inspired by a variety of cuisines. Hannah holds a B.S. in Biological Sciences and is currently studying Clinical Laboratory Sciences in San Diego, where she lives with her husband and cat.

Curried Pearl Couscous with Cranberries and Almonds

• 1 cup Bob’s Red Mill Whole Wheat Pearl Couscous
• 1 Tbsp Olive or Vegetable Oil
• 1 Tbsp Penzeys Maharaja Curry Powder (or other high quality curry powder)
• 1 Tbsp Lemon Juice
• Zest of one small Lemon
• ½ cup Bob’s Red Mill Dried Cranberries
• 1/3 cup Almonds, chopped (or use sliced or slivered almonds)
• 1 small bunch Green Onions, sliced
• Salt and Pepper to taste

Cook the couscous according to package instructions and allow to cool slightly. Add oil and lemon juice and stir to coat the couscous. Gradually add the curry powder, followed by salt and pepper.  Stir in dried cranberries, lemon zest, and almonds. Add green onion just before serving. Tastes delicious served warm or at room temperature.

This beautiful soup comes from Faith Gorsky of An Edible Mosaic as part of our Whole Wheat Pearl Couscous celebration. Look for another delicious recipe from her next week. AnEdibleMosaic.com is a unique recipe collection of international favorites and updated American classics, with emphasis on seasonal dishes. Tantalizing photography nudges you into the kitchen and easy to follow instructions make sure you stay there. Whether the occasion is breakfast, dessert, or anything in between, you’ll find what you’re looking for and hopefully be inspired to try something new. 

Indian-Spiced Cream of Tomato Soup with Whole Wheat Couscous

Serves 4

• 3/4 cup Bob’s Red Mill Whole Wheat Pearl Couscous (Israeli Couscous)
• 1 Tbsp Olive Oil
• 1 medium Red Bell Pepper, diced
• 1 medium-large Onion, diced
• 3 large cloves Garlic
• 1-inch piece fresh Ginger, grated on a microplane
• 1 (14 oz) can petit diced Tomatoes, with juices
• 2 Tbsp Tomato Paste
• 3 cups low-sodium Chicken or Vegetable Stock
• 1 Bay Leaf
• 2 dried Red Chili Peppers (optional)
• 2 tsp Garam Masala
• 1-1/2 tsp Sugar
• 1/4 tsp Salt
• 1/4 tsp Black Pepper
• 1 (16 oz) can Chickpeas, rinsed and drained
• 1 Tbsp Lemon Juice
• 3 Tbsp Coconut Milk or Heavy Cream
• Fresh Cilantro or Flat-Leaf Parsley (optional; for garnish)

Fill a medium-sized pot 2/3 of the way full with water and bring to a boil.  Add the couscous and a generous pinch of salt and cook until the couscous is al dente, about 7 to 9 minutes; drain and set aside.

Heat the oil in a medium pot over medium heat; add the bell pepper and onion and cook until softened, about 7 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Add the garlic and ginger and cook 2 minutes more, stirring constantly.  Stir in the canned tomatoes, tomato paste, stock, bay leaf, dried red chili peppers (if using), garam masala, sugar, salt, and black pepper; turn heat up to high and bring to a boil, then cover the pot, turn heat down to simmer, and cook 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Turn heat off, cool slightly, and remove the bay leaf and dried red chili peppers.

Transfer 2/3 of the soup to a blender and puree until smooth (or use an immersion blender).  Pour the pureed soup back into the pot, along with the chickpeas and lemon juice.  Bring up to a simmer over medium heat, then turn heat off and stir in the couscous and coconut milk or heavy cream.  Taste and season with additional salt, black pepper, sugar, or lemon juice as desired.

Serve garnished with cilantro or parsley if desired.

For April, we’re celebrating Whole Wheat Pearl Couscous. If you’ve not tried pearl couscous, also known as Israeli couscous, you’ll find it to be more pasta-like than its Moroccan relative. Couscous is simply a pasta made from wheat flour. Typically couscous is made from durum wheat in the United States, but it can also be made from semolina or regular hard red spring wheat flour.  You can read more about how couscous is traditionally made here. The main difference between Israeli couscous and Moroccan couscous is the size. Israeli couscous has much larger pearls closer to the size of tapioca pearls and the wheat flour is often toasted. Moroccan couscous is very small, closer to poppy seeds and is usually not made with toasted flour. Both are delicious, but for April, we’re focusing on our pearl couscous made with whole wheat flour. If you can’t eat couscous because you follow a gluten free diet or are sensitive to wheat, many of these recipes could be adapted to use quinoa or millet. They’ll be a little different, but the textures will be similar.

Today’s recipe comes from our good friend Janel of Eat Well with Janel, to kick off our month-long couscous celebration.  Janel is a Boston-based registered dietitian who loves helping people reach their nutrition goals, one bite at a time. Janel shares her culinary adventures in her blog Eat Well with Janel, Facebook fan page, and loves to tweet @DietitianJanel.

Lemony Whole Wheat Pearl Couscous with Broccoli and Salmon

Time: 30 minutes

Serves 5 (as an entrée dish)

Ingredients:

• 1 ½ cups Whole Wheat Pearl Couscous
• 1-12 oz bag Broccoli Florets
• 1- 6 oz can Salmon, skinless, boneless, no salt added
• 3 Tbsp Capers, drained
• 2 Tbsp Olive Oil
• Juice from 2 Lemons
• Salt and pepper to taste

Cook couscous according to package directions. Meanwhile, steam broccoli florets in the microwave by placing them in a microwave safe bowl with two tablespoons of water. Loosely cover with a lid. Cook on high for three minutes.

When couscous is cooked, drain broccoli and add to the couscous. Add olive oil, lemon juice, capers, flaked salmon, and salt and pepper to taste. Mix to combine. Enjoy hot or at room temperature.

I had hoped to give y’all a good recap of what happened at BlogHer Food over the weekend in Atlanta, GA. Truth is, it’s kind of hard to boil it down into 500 words or less! Let’s just say this- we met so many amazing people and left inspired to work with everyone and find ways that we can uplift the food community to make our world a better place. I can’t even list all of the amazing writers and their blogs! I don’t want to leave anyone out! I got to meet David Lebovitz (and embarrass myself) and shared some of our spelt berries with him. David Leite from Leite’s Culinaria taught us how not to steal recipes. You’d think that was easy, but turns out it’s a very gray area and making sure you don’t accidentally steal something is a challenge. I got to chat “food love” with Faith from The Kitchn and Kelly from Evil Shenanigans. Andrew from Eating Rules got us jazzed up about changing how America eats and I was delighted to meet (and gush to) Mrs Q from Fed Up with Lunch (we recommend checking both of them out!). That’s just a small smattering of people I met.

If you’re a food blogger and you couldn’t make it to this great conference, check out the live blogs for great info!

I’ve got a lot of follow up to do, but I hope to bring you great guest writers, share even more recipes and show off some of the great food writing you can find online these days.

On Monday, I shared the Quinoa recipe that we served at the conference. Today, I’d like to give a little shout-out to Sala at Veggie Belly for letting us share her amazing recipe using pearl (aka Israeli) couscous on our website. Instead of posting it here, I want you to go find it there. It’s super simple and really something special. At the conference, we used our whole wheat pearl couscous instead of the plain that she calls for in her recipe. If you want to use whole wheat, just increase the cooking time from 5-7 minutes to 15-20 minutes. This recipe has quickly become a staple at my house. I always hope to have leftovers for lunches, but that has yet to happen!

Veggie Belly is just full of amazing recipes to inspire. It’s become one of my new favorite blogs to read and the perfect go-to for Meatless Mondays! What is your go-to blog for great recipes?