Israeli Couscous

A warming stew of quick-cooking lentils, pearled couscous, and canned chickpeas topped with tangy lime yogurt, crunchy sliced almonds, and fresh herbs.

This is a great one for midweek as it takes no more than 20 minutes from slicing the leeks to serving the finished dish, but it is good enough for weekends as well-filling, fresh and very tasty.

这是一个主要的晚餐,只有需求a salad of assertive greens as accompaniment. The chicken gets a head start in the oven, but then finishes up by sharing its pan with the couscous. This way, the pasta laps up flavor from the meat, while getting crispy on top, and in turn, the steam coming up from the couscous keeps the chicken incredibly juicy. An intense slurry of anchovies, garlic, and lemon makes up most of the piquant dressing, with bursts of contrasting sweetness from the raisins. You'll want a large baking pan that's not much deeper than 2 inches. Pyrex and ceramic have the potential to crack when the liquids are added during roasting, so it's best to avoid them this time. The baking dish I use is enameled metal and is 15 inches long, 11 1/2 inches wide, and with a depth of 1.5 inches, but a 13-inch paella pan would be fine. Keep in mind that if the pan is too deep, the sides of the chicken won't brown; if too small, there won't be a lovely crust on the couscous; if too large, the liquid will evaporate before everything is cooked. It's the Goldilocks of baked suppers, but when it's right, it's perfect.

Flavor fish fillets with the Middle Eastern spice mix za’atar and then serve over couscous and sautéed greens for a totally satisfying 22-minute meal.

Couscous Israélien au Citron et aux PistachesEvery year in Menton, a city near Nice that's on the border of Italy, there's a festival celebrating the famed Menton lemons. Plump and irregularly shaped, they're seasonally available in Paris markets, with their leaves still attached. They are prized by chefs and cooks for their intense lemony flavor (without the harshness of commercial lemons), and their not-too-bitter pith, which makes them perfect for preserving. This nutty, lemony salad makes good use of preserved lemons, which you can easily buy or make yourself (see my website for a recipe). I keep a jar on hand at all times. They take a few weeks to mellow and soften, so don't save making them for the last minute. Their flavor is incomparable, and a jar will last for months in your refrigerator. Chopped-up bits can be tossed with olives for a quickapéro, and they also add an assertive citrus flavor to this dish made with pistachios and Israeli couscous. Israeli couscous are little pearls of pasta, elsewhere called pastina, which means "little pasta," and when toasted it's known asfregola sarda. Since they have more substance, I think they hold up a little better to North African-style braised meats, like the lamb shank tagine, than traditional couscous. (Orzo is a good substitute for the Israeli couscous.) To change things around a bit, you can vary the dried fruit or swap in fresh mint or cilantro for the parsley. Another nut, such as toasted hazelnuts or almonds or even pine nuts, could be used in place of the pistachios.

Mograbiah, a large variety of couscous made from semolina, is common throughout the Arab world. It is also known as pearl or giant couscous and, in North Africa, asberkukis. It is more difficult to find than ordinary couscous. We buy it from Green Valley, the luscious Middle Eastern supermarket just off London's Edgware Road. If you can't get hold of it, try to find the Sardinian equivalent,fregola, which is stocked by some Italian delis. If all this leads you nowhere, use couscous only (increasing the quantity below up to 1 pound / 500 g). You will lose out a little on the interesting combination of textures but still enjoy the explosive mix of flavors. The dried tomatoes are a great pantry ingredient. Keep them immersed in oil if you want them to last a long time. The caramelized onion is also handy to have in the fridge. It will keep there for at least five days and makes a great addition to omelets, quiches, bruschetta, pasta—anything, really.

Rinsing the cooked couscous stops the cooking and prevents it from sticking together as it cools.

While some recipes require elaborate introductions justifying particular flavor combinations, the creation from Epicurious member Sarah Perl of Brooklyn, New York, needs little justification as it eventually won her a husband. Perl also praises the dish for its versatility: “It’s simple enough for a weeknight dinner and special enough for a dinner party.” So, choose a fresh fish fillet and serve up this dish in the name of romance.

Toasting couscous in the pan before adding water imparts a nuttiness that complements the distinctive flavors of mint and parsley.

I got the idea for packing pungent combinations of toppings onto fish before it cooks from Nate Appleman’s gorgeous book, A16: Food + Wine. I like to take it a step further and cook the fish over saffron-infused beads of Israeli couscous. This recipe is a great use for my 12-Hour Tomatoes (page 2), but if you don’t already have some in your refrigerator, you can substitute three or four sun-dried tomato halves packed in oil. Eat this fish with sautéed greens or a salad.

I tasted grilled mussels for the first time last summer and they were a revelation. Grilled mussels cook in their own brine and have a rich, undiluted flavor. This Mediterranean-style meal pairs them with fluffy couscous and a quick tomato sauce. This recipe also works beautifully with clams. You can cook the tomatoes a day ahead and warm them up just before serving.

The lamb in this dish from Cress Restaurant lends immunity-building zinc. For extra fresh flavors, pluck the rosemary, thyme and mint from plants purchased at a garden center; they'll flourish in a sunny window, so you can use them over and over.

Try this deliciously smoky side dish with grilled lamb chops.

Israeli couscous is small, round, toasted pasta with grains about the size of peppercorns. Serve this dish chilled or at room temperature.

These pearls may not be from the sea—couscous is actually a type of pasta—but their firm texture makes them a natural partner for sautéed shrimp. The simple tomato and white-wine sauce adds spark.