Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Couscous with Chicken, Chevre, and Cranberries

I feel like dinner has been a struggle lately. Can anyone else identify with that? When I get home from work, I'm so hungry that all I want to do is shovel down a bowl of cereal for my evening meal. (And I'm talking Lucky Charms or Cinnamon Toast Crunch. I'm not messing with the healthy stuff.) I can't imagine putting forth the effort to make hot dinner; it would be at least as hard as climbing Mt. Everest. Maybe harder.

When I can think of something to make that's fast--something that involves leftovers or cooks at warp speed--I'm sold. And if it can be eaten all together in a bowl (as if it was cereal), all the better.

P.S. Today's recipe made me chuckle to myself: Four words that start with "C" in one recipe. I'm so clever.

Couscous with Chicken, Chevre, and Cranberries
Serves: 4

1.5 cups low-sodium chicken broth (Water will get the job done, too.)
1 7.6-ounce package couscous*
2.5 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons olive oil
1.5 cups cooked, diced chicken
1/2 cup sliced almonds, toasted
2/3 cup dried cranberries
3 ounces crumbled chevre (a.k.a. goat cheese...but that didn't start with a "c")
Salt and pepper

In a medium saucepan, bring broth to a boil. Stir in couscous, cover, and remove from heat. Allow couscous to sit, covered, for 5 minutes, then fluff with a fork.

Stir lemon juice, olive oil, chicken, almonds, and dried cranberries into couscous. Gently fold in crumbled goat cheese. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve warm or at room temperature.

*I usually have a 7.6-ounce box of couscous on hand. If you buy your couscous in bulk (which is probably the smarter and thriftier way to do things), 7.6 ounces is about 1 1/3 cups of uncooked couscous.

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