Tagine - Side Dishes

If you don't want to serve a totally plain couscous, you can make the lemon and herb variation (below). It's light and lovely and would go nicely with any tagine recipe - chicken or whatever. But just so you know, in traditional Moroccan cooking, the couscous prepared entirely plain so that it can soak up the sauce from the tagine without any interference. Either way would be fine. As a side dish, I've made roasted sweet potato chunks, tossed in olive oil and spiced with ras-el-hanout or another aromatic Moroccan spice mixture before roasting. And a salad that includes some citrus - like oranges - would go well.

Lemon and Herb Couscous
1 tbsp. 15 mL olive oil
1 cup 250 mL couscous
1/4 cup 50 mL chopped fresh parsley
2 tbsp. 30 mL chopped chives or green onion tops
1 tsp. 5 mL grated lemon zest
1/2 tsp. 2 mL crumbled dried thyme
1/2 tsp. 2 mL salt
1/4 tsp. 1 mL black pepper
1-1/4 cup 300 mL chicken broth, heated to boiling
2 tbsp. 30 mL lemon juice

Heat the olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the dry couscous, the parsley, chives, lemon zest, thyme, salt and pepper. Cook, stirring, for one minute, until well combined. Add the boiling chicken broth and the lemon juice, stir, cover and remove from heat. Let the mixture sit, covered, for 5 to 7 minutes, or until the couscous is tender and all the liquid has been absorbed. Fluff with a fork and serve.

Highlighted by helaine

Highlighted by helaine

Highlighted by helaine