In the US, Garbanzo beans, also known as chick peas, are most commonly seen served uncooked as an addition to a cold Italian-style salad. They're certainly delicious served that way, but the firm texture of garbanzos and their nutty flavor also make them ideal for cooking. Many Middle Eastern dishes even use cooked garbanzo beans as a main course, flavoring them with a variety of spices and herbs. Making a Moroccan-style garbanzo bean and couscous dish is an easy way to a healthy vegetarian dish that's full of flavor. Here's do it.
Instructions
1. Sort through a cupful of the dried beans, looking for stones, debris and shriveled beans. Discard these and add the remaining beans to a saucepan. Cover the beans with 3 cups of water, place a lid on the pan and let the beans soak overnight.
2. Drain and rinse the beans. Add 2 tbsp. of vegetable oil to a large saute pan and heat over medium high heat. Add chopped onion and the garlic to the pan and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Then, add 1/2 tsp. of cumin and turmeric and 1/4 tsp. of cinnamon and cook for another minute. If you prefer, you can substitute these spices for a garam masala spice mix. Garam masala is widely used in Indian cooking, and is a wonderfully fragrant combination of spices (see link below for a recipe).
3. Add the rinsed beans to the pan along with 2 cups of vegetable broth and bring the mixture to a boil. Turn down to a simmer, cover and cook for 45 to 50 minutes, or until tender, stirring occasionally. Stir in the couscous, cover the pan and remove from the heat. Let the pan sit for 5 to 10 minutes until the liquid has been absorbed.
4. Chop 1/2 cup of flat leaf parsley along with 1/4 cup of mint leaves and add to a cup of plain yogurt . Add 1/2 cup of chopped cucumber, stir the yogurt to mix the ingredients and add in the juice of one lemon. If you prefer, you can use cilantro leaves instead of parsley. It makes the yogurt mixture a little more flavorful and aromatic, a little more like an Indian-style raita dip. Either way, it complements the cooked beans perfectly.
5. Serve up the garbanzo beans and couscous onto two plates and top with the cucumber yogurt mixture. Garnish with a slice of lemon and a couple of parsley (or cilantro) leaves.
Tags: along with, cilantro leaves, cook minutes, little more, minutes until, stirring occasionally, with cups
