Mediterranean Chicken Couscous

You may be wondering: "Stacy, what the hell is couscous?"

Is it:

A) A small African rodent

B) French for "kiss kiss!"

C) Some crazy health food grain

D) A pasta dish of spherical granules made by rolling and shaping moistened semolina wheat and then coating them with finely ground wheat flour.


If you guessed D, then you are correct!!

Believe it or not, couscous (pronounced "koose koose") is a type of pasta. It is used often in Mediterranean, Middle East, and African dishes. It cooks up WAY faster than spaghetti or rice and isn't as heavy in your tummy. Also, all the little bits soak up sauce and are delicious. At any grocery store you can find lots of tasty varieties!

My recipe for Mediterranean Chicken Couscous is quite possibly one of my fastest, easiest, and most delicious yet (if I do say so, myself.) Enjoy!


Ingredients:

• 1 boneless, skinless chicken breast
  

• 1 small onion
  

• 1 cup julienne cut sundried tomatoes jarred in olive oil and herbs. This sounds like a crazy specific ingredient, but these are tasty and you don't have to chop then. You can buy this at most grocery stores and it is a delicious and healthy way to add tons of flavor to your food! Also great in scrambled eggs.
  

• 1 cup of feta cheese crumbles
  

• 1/4 cup fresh basil leaves, torn. This is optional, but I think it adds great color and flavor!

• 1 box Near East brand "Mediterranean Curry" Couscous. Near East is the brand I have seen most often in grocery stores, and Mediterranean Curry is just one of the tasty flavors they offer.

Very few ingredients are needed since the Mediterranean couscous comes with its own spice packet. Super easy!


Directions:

Prep time: you know the drill. Cut up your chicken breast into small, bite sized pieces of about the same size. Peel your onion and chop it up.




Heat a sautee pan to medium high heat and put in your sundried tomatoes. Make sure to include plenty of that delicious herbed olive oil from the jar! Sometimes the oil congeals if your jar has been in the fridge for a while, but it will liquefy again once it heats up.





After the tomatoes have heated up for a minute, add your onions to let them cook in the herbed oil until they are translucent.





Now add your chicken. As the meat cooks, it will soak up all that delicious flavor from the sundried tomatoes and the herbed olive oil. Once again, you will know the chicken is done when no pink remains.




At this point while the chicken cooks, you can prepare the couscous according to the directions on the box. In a microwave, it only takes five minutes!





Put the couscous in a bowl and top with the chicken mixture, feta cheese, and basil. This should be enough for at least two meals, unless you are obese. Enjoy :)