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.

Orange-Scented Lentil Soup : Not Quite Dorie's

For a while now I have been following Diane Balch's  "French Fridays with Dorie." She is a proud member of the club and gives very clear and honest reviews on the recipes she tries. I really enjoy reading her posts and had bookmarked this particular recipe because unlike many other French recipes the Orange-Scented Lentil Soup  seemed down-to-earth, cook-able yet chic. Of course with the limited supply of ingredients I had in hand and with Diane's review in mind, I modified the recipe a bit. so the version that you'll see here is not quite Dorie's though it is totally inspired by her's.

I figured that the essence of the soup was in simmering the veggies and the lentils along with strips of orange peels and spices. so i remained faithful to that part of the recipe. though instead of French lentils I used red lentils or masoor dal as we call it. and in place of coriander seeds I used a combination of Indian spices. namely, one whole anise star and ground roasted cumin. the result was delightful. even before tasting the soup I knew something wonderful was simmering in the pot.... the combined aroma of the oranges and the spices kept telling me so. and they really kept their promise. The soup was delicious. since the soup tasted delicious by itself I skipped the yogurt topping and the bacon all-together that were part of Dorie's recipe and we did not regret it at all. Also, I did not puree the soup. it felt like an unnecessary addition to the chores. i served the soup straight from the pot to the bowl... and before starting to slurp on our spoonfuls plucked out the anise star and cloves   from it.. it was the perfect dinner along with the Partybrot bread( pictures and recipe coming up soon) i had baked..