Couscous Primavera – Because I Don't Get Enough Hate Mail from Morocco

Well, it started before I even posted the recipe. Here's a comment from the couscous primavera tease post I did yesterday:

Soukaina said... "plz plz plzzzzzzzzzz !! I am begging you !! stop massacring couscous !! I'm a Moroccan ; been born there , lived there my entire life so I know what I'm talking about !! there's one way and one way only to make couscous , and yours is just not it !! but if you prefer changing some ingredients or adding some stuff to it? that's fine ! do as you wish !! just don't call it couscous."

First of all, I'm only calling this couscous because the package says, "Couscous," and the stuff inside the package was couscous – or at least what we Americans get as couscous. 

Secondly, as with all my ethnically inspired dishes, I don't claim this is in any way authentic. I'm sure it's not, but not having ever had "real" Moroccan couscous I can't argue which version is better, so I'll just assume mine is.

Anyway, the point is, we're not trying to "massacre" anyone's cultural/culinary heritage. This is how we do couscous around these parts, and it's tough to knock a healthy, delicious, and easy side dish that takes about 10 minutes to make.

I'm obviously borrowing the name from the ubiquitous spring dish, Pasta Primavera, which like this recipe hopes to take advantage of fresh, seasonal, green produce. Speaking of which, you are highly encouraged to use whatever vegetables look good at your local (hopefully farmer's) market.

Please note: check the instructions on whatever package of couscous you happen to use. Times vary from 5-10 minutes depending on the brand. Enjoy!

Couscous Ingredients:
2 cups couscous

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 jalapeno, minced

1/2 cup chopped green onions

1/2 tsp cumin

salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

big pinch of cayenne

2 cups vegetable or chicken stock

1 small bunch asparagus, cut into 1/4-inch pieces

1 cup freshly shucked green peas (or sub frozen like me)

2 tablespoon chopped fresh mint, or other sweet herbs