I made couscous and chickpeas (shocker, I know, basically expected of me at this point. what can I say I love chickpeas and they're 1 dollar) with veggies
thought a lot about my knife while cooking today. sure I've got a huge set of mismatched knives like any 20 something on their 3rd apartment has, but ones my favorite. it's serrated, about 4 inches long, with a wooden handle. frankly unless it's dirty I use it for everything. I know pro chefs use multiple knives for different cuts and stuff and I guess it makes sense for efficiency or presentation but at the end of the day... will it cut? and this knife has been my buddy through it all. if you look at the pic one of the cucumbers has some toothy edges from it.
I do eventually want to invest in a good chefs knife and keep it sharp and well maintained. I've been buying new kitchen tools that are higher quality than my previous tools because really I do notice the difference. I swapped my dollar store grater for a hard steel planer/zester combo that wasn't too expensive (like $5?) etc. I think knives are next. also this summer I'm going to bully apt management into replacing my stove with one with all 4 functional burners instead of 2 small ones.
recipe under the cut
shallot (diced fine)
cucumber (halved and sliced)
tomato (diced)
lemon (zested, juiced)
dill (if fresh, copped up)
chickpeas (drained)
pearl couscous
veggie stock
butter
sour cream
honey
"Mediterranean spice blend" that seems to be garlic powder, cayenne, tumeric, chili powder, cardamom for the most part.
- coat the chickpeas in spice blend and bake at 400 for idk 20 mins maybe less.
- sautee half the shallot in butter and then add veggies stock and couscous in appropriate ratio (1:1? fuck if I know. I ended up adding a little more water at the end)
- mix tomato, cucumber, and shallot in a bowl with olive oil, S&P.
- mix sour cream with lemon juice, some dill, and honey. I added a little water so it would drizzle.
- plate as couscous, chickpeas, salad, and top with cream sauce and leftover dill.