My obsession with beautiful seasonal produce continues! Today’s star is pomegranate, in my opinion one of the most beautiful fruit out there! Its little red seeds (known as arils) look like rubies and I’m always amazed how much beauty nature gives us each season. That’s exactly the reason why I love living in places where there are actually 4 seasons as I get so excited with everything that each season has to offer and sure we all sometimes dream (and some even make those dreams come true!) that we live on some exotic Caribbean island where we can eat bananas, coconuts and mangoes all year long and walk in our shorts and flip flops but to tell you the truth, I prefer the 4 seasons because each one has so many things that make me happy!
Actually, last year I had an opportunity to experience that Caribbean paradise and in case you didn’t see that post, you can find it here… and I had the time of my life, enjoying every minute of it and those memories kept me going through many tough and challenging things that happened this year. But even when I was there and appreciated all the beauty, climate, sunshine, gorgeous food etc, I still thought how I couldn’t really picture myself living permanently in a place where summers and winters are pretty much the same.
What can I say, that’s me. I just love those pumpkin soups and red leaves, hot chocolates, winter boots and snowflakes, pink blossoms and cherries, summer berries and warm summer evenings too much! How about you, do you feel the same or you would pack your bags and move there tomorrow if you could? 😀
So let’s talk a bit about this recipe. Like all my recipes, it’s simple, easy to make and has great flavours that work well together but you won’t need a list of 20 ingredients to make it! I make a lot of couscous and quinoa dishes at home because I love how you can quickly make a fantastic nutritious meals. They taste quite similar with the difference that quinoa is gluten-free so if you are following a gluten-free diet, you can simply replace couscous with quinoa. I use both and I already have some recipes with those ingredients on the blog (like this delicious Summer veggie coucous or this Quinoa with avocado, broccoli & tomatoes, or this Quinoa with rocket, radishes and tahini dressing).
Oh and in case you are wondering where did I get these beautiful ceramic plates, they are actually typical handmade painted ceramics from Uzbekistan! When I lived in Kazakhstan, we had opportunity to buy that beautiful crafts from talented Uzbek craftsmen that would come on a regularly basis to sell their products. I have some nice plates, cups and teapots that I cherish but now I wish I bought more when I had a chance! Those beautiful things were so cheap there and I wonder where was my head not to buy more! :/
- 1 cup couscous
- 1 pomegranate (seeds)
- 1 cup cooked chickpeas
- 1-2 tbsp chopped almonds
- ½ fennel
- olive oil
- salt, pepper
- parsley, thyme
- lemon zest, grated (untreated lemons)
- In a small saucepan add 1 cup of water, pinch of salt and tbsp of olive oil, let it boil and when it's boiling, switch of the fire and mix in couscous, stirring. (or follow the instructions on your packaging)
- Set prepared couscous aside.
- De-seed pomegranate and set aside.
- In a large pan drizzle some olive oil and add chopped fennel, stir and let it cook for few minutes. Add cooked chickpeas (you can cook it in advance or use canned chickpeas), prepared couscous, thyme, chopped parsley, salt & pepper, pinch of grated lemon zest and a drizzle of olive oil.
- Remove from heat, add chopped almonds and pomegranate seeds.
- Stir and add more seasoning if necessary. Serve and enjoy!
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