Hey folks!
So I've been pretty absent on the bloggin' front, which, like I'm sorry. I started a new job (which is pretty rad) where I'm on the computer all the livelong day, so when I get home at night being on the computer is just... not something I wanna do for very long most of the time. Sorry!
But I've got a recipe for you all that is pretty great. It's basically a variation of tabbouleh with lentils and other good stuff. It makes a great main dish or side dish and it packs one hell of a nutritious punch with veggies, protein, and still some yummy carbs all in one dish. Bam!
This recipe is both vegetarian and vegan friendly, so everyone can eat it! (well, mostly everyone. Sorry paleo weirdos).
This recipe serves 4 (as a main course). You can easily double it to feed a small army.
You'll need:
- half a package of israeli couscous (i use trader joe's brand because i'm obsessed) ($2.35)
- half a pack of trader joe's ready lentils (or the lentils of your choice!) ($2.00)
- a couple handfuls of shredded lettuce (romaine or iceburg works best) (.20c)
- half a tomato, diced (.44c)
- 1 whole cucumber, seeded and diced (.65c)
- 6 or so stalks of green onion, diced (.40c)
- 1 whole lemon worth of juice (.80c)
- about a tablespoon of virgin olive oil (.15c)
- a shit ton (yes, that is a unit of measurement) of parsley (.04)
- a sprinkle of mint if you're into it (.02)
- a dash of salt to taste (.01)
TOTAL: $7.06
Some of these prices are approximate because I just straight up don't remember. But the point is: it's seriously not expensive.
Directions
1. Get the couscous goin' - cook it according to the package directions (keep in mind that sometimes the package instructions call for too little water, so top it off just in case!) Also get the lentils goin' if you're using lentils that need to be cooked (sidenote: if you're a human sloth like me Trader Joe's Ready Lentils are a great gift from God. You can eat 'em cold or hot. I throw them in everything -- boom, protein with exactly zero effort! I'm so into it).
2. Get cuttin' on your vegetables! Start with whatever veggie you'd like - tomato, cucumber, or green onion. Make sure to get the seeds out of the cucumber and tomato because imho they are a nuisance and unnecessary. For the cucumber, I typically carve out the uber gushy middle (with the seeds) and just toss it and focus on dicing up the outer edges. This is just my own weird personal preference, but I do think getting rid of the more watery part of the cucumber helps it keep better, but do whatever you want! Make sure you dice them up pretty finely -- it doesn't have to be perfect, but you don't want any big chunks. Throw all your cut up veggies into a big bowl.
3. Shred up some lettuce and throw it in the bowl (these instructions are so dumb, I'm sorry, I am not a professional).
4. Hopefully by now your couscous is done (well, it probably is if you're me and you take forever to cut up anything). Throw it in the bowl!
5. Open up your lentils (or hopefully they're done cooking if you're not using ready lentils) and throw them in the bowl!
6. Chop the lemon in half and juice up that bowl! I really like lemon juice, so I pretty much bleed that sucker dry, but do it to your taste! Mix it all together so everything's evenly coated in lemony goodness.
7. Drizzle a tablespoon or so of virgin olive oil into the bowl and mix it up!
8. Add a shitton of parsley (or a more conservative amount if you're just not feeling a shitton). Mix it up!
9. Throw in a little bit of mint and mix it up!
10. Sprinkle some salt and keep on mixing it up!
11. Boom, you're done! Eat it up!
This is just the recipe that I used -- but you could totally spice this up and make it your own by modifying it to suit your tastes. I think in the future I'd love to try throwing some spinach or avocado in there.
Are there any recipes that you're obsessed with right now?
