As you might know by now, I love citrus. The olives in this recipe give it a nice salty, earthy bite and balances out the bright freshness of the citrus. Cooking this couscous in the juice really brings out the citrus flavor without adding fats like cheese and butter. I happened to find kaffir lime leaves and have tons leftover after making Thai curry, so I threw a couple in here. Feel free to leave them out, but I would suggest throwing in another herb or a bay leaf.
Mediterranean Citrus Couscous
1 cup whole wheat couscous
2 cups freshly squeezed orange and lemon juice (preferably more orange than lemon but whatever you have)
zest of the citrus used
3 kaffir lime leaves
1 teaspoon salt
1 garlic clove
1/4 cup Gaeta olives, pitted and chopped
3 tablespoons parsley, chopped (optional)
Bring the juice to a boil and add in the kaffir, garlic, zest, and salt. Let it reduce down a bit and then add the couscous. Boil according to package instructions– the liquid should cook off but you can drain it if you have leftover. Stir in the olives and parsley.
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Simple but delicious. Do you leave the lime leaves whole and could you use lemon leaves, I have a lemon tree?
I leave them whole because I don’t think you really want to eat them. They’re pretty tough and I think they would be hard on your stomach.
this looks delicious! I don’t think I can get those leaves here but other than that, this looks really doable!
You can definitely leave them out, I was just looking for the excuse to use some up! They do have a lovely subtle flavor though, used mostly in Thai cooking.
oh good – maybe I’ll throw a bay leaf in there to feel better about it
Do you think curry leaves would work ok instead of the kaffir?
You could certainly try it, although I’m not sure I would like the combo of curry and olives. I would probably prefer to leave them out or substitute something less strong.
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This one looks tasty and fresh!
Can’t wait to try this one, I’m crazy for citrus and olives! By the way, if you can’t get the lime leaves, a little lime zest is a good substitute for the flavor profile.