Moroccan Orange Couscous

Last Monday we treated ourselves to yet another Orange dish.  Moroccan Orange Couscous. After trying my hands at Spiced Orange Buns, Orange-Scented Lentil Soup and Strawberry cake i felt tempted to sneak in oranges and orange peel in every other dish. but as always i did not feel confident enough to develop a recipe from the scratch. so i consulted my cookbooks and the  Google. and this time google hit the spot.  my search ended at the Moroccan Orange Couscous. Inspired by a meal at the Tangierine Cafe, at the Morocco Pavilion in Epcot - Orlando, Brenda from a farm girl's dabbles had created a recipe that had all the ingredients I wanted and a little more. oranges, couscous, a mix of Indian spices and all in the same dish to create a Mediterranean flavor. Ahaa !! what more could i ask for.  

so i went ahead and cooked it and this is what Mr MN said,  'this is restaurant quality stuff !!'  of course all he meant by that was 'this is very good indeed. you should make it more often.' "oh yes. don't you worry. i will. i loved it too," said i and helped myself to some more of this Moroccan delight.

Recipe of Moroccan Orange Couscous adapted from here with minimal changes.

ingredients

• 1/4 cup sliced almonds

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Whole Spices to be ground together

• 2 teaspoon roasted cumin 
• 1 dry red chilly
• 5 cloves(the spice)
• 5 green cardamom pods
• 1 inch cinnamon bark

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• 2 tablespoon olive 
• 1 medium sized onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, grated
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
• 1/2 small zucchini,trimmed and diced
• 1/2 medium sized red bell pepper, thinly sliced
• 1/2 medium sized yellow bell pepper, thinly sliced
• 1 cup boiled chickpeas
• 1 cup chicken broth or the water in which chickpeas have been boiled(I used the later)
• zest and juice from 1 1/2 oranges (keep the zest and juice separated)
• 1 cup couscous
• 1 1/2 oranges pared and with membranes removed
• 1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper 6 stems of fresh cilantro chopped

what i did

• to begin with i toasted the sliced almonds lightly and kept them aside. i did not toast them till they browned as few browned before and they would blacken if i toasted further.
• next i ground the whole spices and kept them aside.
• once all that was done, i heated the oil in a large saucepan, added the onions and garlic and cooked them till the onions were translucent. 
• i then stirred in the ground ginger, turmeric and the ground whole spices and cooked over medium flame till a nice aroma was there in the air.
• next i added the zucchini and the peppers and covered the pan and cooked the veggies in it till they softened. 
• then removing the lid i added the boiled chickpeas, the water in which the chickpeas were boiled, half of the orange juice and the zest and turned the heat to high.
• once the water began to boil i stirred in the couscous, switched off the heat and covered the pan with a lid. 
• i let it stand that way for 5 minutes.  then removing the lid i fluffed up the couscous with a fork and let the couscous cool down while i pared the oranges and prepared a bed of oranges,  coriander and some sliced almonds on which i would lay my couscous..

• once the couscous cooled down i spooned it over the bed of oranges and coriander,  mixed the remaining orange juice into it, then garnishing it with the remaining toasted almonds served it on the table.

Mr MN does not like his food cold so i did not refrigerate it on the first day. but i relished the refrigerated cold salad with some fish the following day. the thing that is great about this salad was how without the addition of any sugar, the sweetness of the oranges sobers the heat of the spices and creates a beautiful delicious salad.  i must mention here that the original recipe also had raisins and mint in its ingredient list. i while i enjoyed the couscous as it was i inwardly missed the raisins and the mint. clearly, there inclusion would have added another degree of freshness to the salad !  

Hope you are enjoying your weekend. ours started on a wrong foot with baby falling down and hurting himself bad. but we are fine now and baby is happy as a bubble bee :)

Sharing this with Bon Vivant #14 - Spring Surprises @ Sumee's Culinary Bites, FR Event ~ Bookmarked recipes, an event announced by Swathi of Zesty South India Kitchen and hosted by Pallavi of Cook, Eat, Burp  

and the following weekly food events :
Monday Food:  Marvelous Mondays @ This Gal Cooks, Meatless Monday @Veggie Mama's,  Meatless Monday My Sweet and Savory, Just Another Meatless Monday @ Hey What's for Dinner Mom  

Tuesday Food:  Hearth and Soul Blog Hop, Slightly Indulgent Tuesday , Tasty Tuesday

Wednesday Food : Wonderful Food Wednesdays at @ Home Take 2, Seasonal Celebration @ Natural Mother's Network, Whole Foods Wednesday #98

Thursday Food:Link it Up Thursday @ Seven Alive, Creative Thursday @ Michelle's Tasty Creations, Fantastic Thursday @ Three Little Chiefs, Thriving on Thursdays @ Domesblissity, Freedom Friday @ My Turn, Full Plate Thursday @ Miz Helen's Country Cottage
Friday Food: Foodie Friday @ Home Maid Simple, Friday Favorite (DYI too) @ Simple Sweet Home, Foodie Friday @ Not Your Ordinary Recipes,  Foodie Friday @ Rattlebridge Farm , Weekend Wonders @ The Thriftiness Miss, Friday Food Frenzy @ Mostly Food and Crafts , Weekend Potluck @ Sunflower Supper Club,  The Weekend re-Treat @The Best Blog  Recipes, Fresh Bites Friday @ Real Food, Wellness Weekend, Weekend Kitchen Link Party

and sending the second photograph "Green in a bed of Orange" to 

"The Colour Me Photography Challenge Series" ~ Colour Me Green , a photography event at Priya's place Humpty Dumpty Kitchen.

and these are a few products  from amazon that you might like if  couscous or Mediterranean is on your mind...