Lemon herb couscous
Fluffy couscous with lemon, parsley and a little olive oil, ready in fifteen minutes and the fastest grain side there is.
- 15 min total
- 10 min hands-on
- Anyone can make this
- Serves 4
- About $0.86 a serving
- 200 calories
- Good the next day
- Vegan
- Dairy-free
Dolly says: It’s ready in 15 minutes, start to finish.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- 1¼ cups vegetable broth
- 1 cup couscous
- 1 lemon, zested and juiced
- ¼ cup fresh parsley, chopped
- 2 green onions (optional)
From your pantry
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- ¼ tsp salt
Each serving has about 200 calories, 6 g protein, 36 g carbs and 4 g fat, and costs about $0.86 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No lemons? Limes work.
- No fresh parsley? Cilantro works.
- No green onions? Chives work.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
Bring the broth, oil and salt in a medium over high heat.
Bring to a boil. It means heating a liquid on high until it’s fully boiling before you move on. A lid on the pot gets it there faster, which makes it a good moment to chop something.
How you’ll know: Big bubbles break all over the surface, and they keep coming when you lift the lid.
Saucepan. A saucepan is a pot with tall, straight sides and one long handle. It’s for things that need depth, like rice, sauces or a few boiled eggs.
How you’ll know: The food fills it about halfway, leaving room to bubble without spilling over.
High heat
in the couscous, cover, and take the pan off the heat.
Stir. Stirring means moving food around with a spoon or spatula so it cooks evenly and doesn’t stick. Unless the recipe says constantly, every so often is plenty, and it gives food time to brown.
How you’ll know: When you drag the spoon across the bottom, nothing is sticking or scorching.
Let it sit, covered, for 5 minutes, until it has soaked up all the liquid.
Timer: 5 min
Dolly’s tip: Couscous doesn’t really cook, it soaks. Five minutes off the heat is all it needs.While it soaks, and juice the lemon, the parsley, and the green onions.
Zest. Zest is the thin, colored outer layer of citrus peel, rubbed off on the smallest holes of a grater. It holds the fruit’s fragrant oils, so it adds bright flavor without the sourness of juice.
How you’ll know: You see bright flecks and smell citrus right away; stop when you reach the white layer, which is bitter.
Chop. Chopping means cutting food into bite-size pieces that don’t need to be neat. Keep them roughly the same size so everything cooks evenly.
How you’ll know: Your pieces are about half an inch and roughly alike, even if none of them are pretty.
Thinly slice. Thinly slicing means cutting slices about an eighth of an inch thick, roughly two coins stacked. Thin slices cook in seconds and soften fast, which quick dishes need.
How you’ll know: A slice bends a little when you hold it by one edge, and slow, steady cuts beat fast ones.
Fluff the couscous with a fork, breaking up any clumps.
in the lemon zest, half the lemon juice, the parsley and green onions, then taste and add more lemon or salt.
Stir. Stirring means moving food around with a spoon or spatula so it cooks evenly and doesn’t stick. Unless the recipe says constantly, every so often is plenty, and it gives food time to brown.
How you’ll know: When you drag the spoon across the bottom, nothing is sticking or scorching.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
When you host a dinner, Dollop builds the menu around your guests’ allergies, works out a cooking timeline back from when everyone sits down, and puts it all on one grocery list.
