After Dinner Thoughts

MMMMmmmmm...that was a taste sensation! I ended up not going to the grocery, so I prepared items I found in my pantry. We had the Chickpea Picatta, Couscous with tomato and Parmesean, and green beans with almonds; I also made a Ghirardelli Triple Chocolate Brownie from a mix.

The Chickpea Piccata was a little tart, but once we ate it over and mixed with the couscous it was just perfect. I didn't have shallots, so I used a little yellow onion sliced very thin in the piccata. I also didn't have arugula.

For the couscous I followed a recipe on the box - kind of - the recipe called for asparagus and I didn't have any in the house so I just left that ingredient out. Here's the couscous recipe:

Tomato Parmesan Couscous
Serves 3 1/2

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/4 cups fat free & reduced sodium chicken broth (I used vegetable broth)
1 package Near East couscous toasted pine nut
10 fresh asparagus spears, trimmed and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
2 large plum tomatoes, seeded and diced (I used a can of diced tomatoes that I drained a little)
3/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated

1- In a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat. Cook garlic for 2 minutes. Add broth and contents of spice sack. Bring just to a boil. Stir in asparagus. Reduce heat; cover and simmer 1 minute.
2- Stir in Near East couscous; cover and remove from heat. Let stand 5 minutes.
3- Stir in tomatoes and Parmesan cheese.

It was all very good. And, very easy.