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Post Punk Kitchen's Pesto Soup with Gnocchi, Beans & Greens; couscous wtih potato, savoy cabbage, broccoli, chickpeas, & carrots, and seasoned with cumin and tumeric; red bell pepper; sesame seed squares

Israeli Couscous Salad with Seiten & Kale

New recipe from the kitchen of Christi and Justin - hooray!

Last night, we just winged it and came up with something new that actually worked really well, so here it is for you to try - let me know what you think! Enjoy!

Israeli Couscous Salad with Seiten & Kale 

Ingredients:

3/4 cup Israeli couscous

1 onion, chopped

1 clove of garlic

Handful of crimini mushrooms - maybe 4-5, chopped 

1 package of seiten, chopped into small pieces 

1 small head of kale, chopped

2 carrots, chopped

1/4 of a cucumber, chopped

1/2 yellow bell pepper, chopped

1 1/2 tomatoes, chopped

1 Tbsp Hot Pepper Sesame Oil

A few pinches of cumin

Salt & Pepper

Directions:

Boil some water and add the couscous. Cook it for about 10-15 minutes until tender and then drain. Throw the couscous in a big bowl. 

Saute onions in some canola oil or sesame oil. Add garlic after onions are translucent, then add mushrooms. After letting it saute for a while, add the seiten and cook until browned. Throw in salt & pepper and some cumin. Cover and reduce heat to medium and let the flavors blend. 

Meanwhile, toss the bell pepper, cucumber, tomato, and carrot with the couscous. Toss in some hot pepper sesame oil, a little salt and pepper. 

Add the kale to the sauteed veggies and let it cook down. Add the whole mix to the couscous mixture and allow to cool in the fridge or eat hot (tastes awesome after it marinates over night). 

Couscous Veggie Stuffed Peppers

The stuffed peppers were a huge success, as was our engagement announcement :o) Normally I make the peppers using quinoa, but right as I started cooking, I realized we've only got maybe a 1/4 cup of red quinoa left. Whoops! So I improvised and below is the recipe for what turned out to be some really stellar stuffed peppers. Enjoy!

Christi's Couscous Veggie Stuffed Peppers
4 large red or yellow bell peppers, tops removed and centers cleaned out
1 cup couscous
1 1/2 cups veggie stock
olive oil
1 small yellow onion, diced
1 cup crimini mushrooms, chopped
1 medium carrot, shredded
1 zucchini, diced
1/2 cup veggie stock
1/2 cup textured vegetable protein (TVP)
1 cup mild-hot salsa
Salt & Pepper

Preheat the oven to 350.
In a pot, boil the 1 1/2 cups veggie stock, add the couscous, cover and remove from heat.
In a skillet, heat olive oil and add onion and mushrooms, sauteing until soft. Add shredded carrot and zucchini and cook.

Heat 1/2 cup veggie stock in a bowl in the microwave, then add the TVP. Allow the TVP to absorb the liquid. Add salsa to veggie mixture in the skillet. Then add TVP and couscous. Add more salsa or veggie stock if they mixture is too dry.

Spoon the mixture into the peppers and place peppers in a baking pan. Bake for one hour; check the peppers after 30 mins, adding a little veggie stock to the base of the pan and to the tops of each pepper. When finished, peppers will be softened, but not mushy. When they start to pucker a little - it's done!