Israeli Couscous and Chicken Sausage skillet

Hits Well, I’m a sausage girl and when I discovered chicken sausage it was such a revelation. “You mean” I said to myself “I can have sausage sometimes without the sausage guilt? awesome.” I have checked the internet and it looks like you could also use vegan sausage, because unlike most sausage recipes, you are not looking for the renderings to provide the base everything else will be cooked in. As a self professed sausage girl (yes, I understand how it can be misread and I’m ok with it) I do eat traditional Italian sausage, hotdogs, salami, pepperoni, coneys (which you might have to look up and they taste better than they look) and even the occasional brat, but this recipe is on the lighter side of things made with ingredients, which come, well, in this shape. I have made it several times and it’s as easy as it is delicious

Misses As I said I have made this several times before and I think the only miss is I have not experimented yet with adding vegetables to the mix so it’s a little light and more nutritious. I think carrots or parsnips might work …I’ll keep you posted!

Ingredients

• 2 teaspoons olive oil

• 1 package (12 ounces) fully cooked spinach and feta chicken sausage links or flavor of your choice, sliced

• 1 small onion, finely chopped

• 1 celery rib, finely chopped

• 1 garlic clove, minced

• 1 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth

• 1 cup water

• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

• 1-1/4 cups uncooked pearl (Israeli) couscous

• 2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley

• 1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese, optional

  Plan of Attack

Onions are the key to this dish

They create the base of aromatic goodness

Dice your onions. I was being frugal so I used a shallot and what was left of an onion I had used in a previous recipe. Shallots, always, add subtle sweetness, and next time I make this I will make exclusively with shallots and see it makes a difference.

Coin your sausage

Make them the same size so they cook evenly

Coin your chicken sausage- I used sweet red pepper Italian flavored chicken sausage but you could use whatever seems to tempt your palate. I’m a such a sucker for Italian spice combinations I gravitate towards this kind in the grocery store.

Start Cooking

Don’t blink or you’ll miss it. This dish comes together so quickly!

Add a tsp of oil to your medium skillet and when hot, turn down the heat to medium and render your onions. When aromatic, add the garlic for about 60 seconds, being careful not to burn the garlic. Add the coined chicken sausage and turn them so they end up evenly browning. Now, remember this is not traditional sausage and is much leaners so you might find yourself needing to add more olive oil…Don’t stress!

The Perfect Marriage

Comforting. A little spicy. Healthier than expected.

I confess I always use traditional chicken stock, and not low sodium when low sodium is called for an I adjust accordingly. The red pepper flakes add a level of complexity and a subtle spiciness which goes perfectly with the rest of the ingredients. Since this recipe calls for adding feta, I adjusted the amount of Feta later because Feta is so salty and I added traditional chicken stock.

Couscous Love

These tiny balls of gluten just fill my comfort tank.

Measure it carefully because pearl couscous absorbs so much liquid, it will surprise you. The recipe calls for only your straight cup, so add a straight cup

Quiet. The magic is happening

Stir in the couscous. Turn down the heat to medium low for simmering. Cover, and set your time for 9-11 minutes. Check on it at minute 5-6, and stir. Recover.

Donesky.More-onsky

This phrase was uttered during my childhood when I was being told I was done. This dish is so good the 9 minutes seems like so much time to cook (Even though it’s not)…and then I want to say something equally as silly because I’m so exited.

Remove the couscous mixture from the heat. Stir in Feta and whatever herbs you feel so inclined to add.. ENJOY!

My comments: Often we eat, but we don’t ever think bout the history of what we’re eating.

Throughout this post I called this starch “couscous” but it’s not actually couscous. Because of it’s shape it is sometimes called Pearl couscous and because of it’s origin, Isreali couscous, but it’s actual name is ptitim. It is made from a paste of wheat and was invented in response for a need for an affordable starch which could take the place of rice. Yes folks, it was made to be cheaper than rice.

I love it. It’s awesome. I cook with it whenever I can and I find recipes on the internet just so I can cook with it. Today posting this recipe seems like a political act and it isn’t. Respectfully, I respect people who are mourning always and I ache for peace for all people. I have no political opinion I am willing to share about the conflict happening in Isreal and Palestine because I am not an expert and there is so much pain revolving around this scared tiny place I would be foolish to think I should speak about it and that speaking about it would not hurt people I care about. Since I am not an expert I would inevitably do somebody a disservice.

I will say this:. Recently I was told somebody accused me of being naive because I talk about praying for peace as if peace will ever happen. She actually called me the most naive person she had ever met if I thought peace was possible or it was something to talk about. I am many things. I’m hard working. I’m crafty. I’m a person who has to work to keep her temper. I’m a wild woman who does not like shoes and believes in the magic of shooting stars. I’m hard to understand and some people might say hard to to like. I’m loyal. I’m kind. I believe in reciprocity, even if it takes a while. I believe in justice. I believe in reading to children. I am tough. I am tender with the young and the broken. I believe in second chances. but… I am not naive. In my heart I have come to the realization that at this point, humanity has the ability to destroy itself so if we are to survive, peace is not simply an option, it is our only option. My losses, my broken road, and my uniquely sad journey, have taught me peace is the only option because I seen the disaster which happens when peace is not given a chance in families, between communities and in the world. I have also been helped by people who should hate each other (and some still do), working together in the name of peace and fairness. While I am not as wise as the wisest, I deeply know I would not be alive if not for people deciding some things are more important than hurts, even ancient hurts.

In my faith, another name for the central character of the whole shebang is “Prince of Peace” .My faith teaches me praying for peace matters, and since I feel calmed when I pray, I do. Since I have studied history, I do know wars end and in places tragically rocked by violence, there emerges always at some point uneasy (arguably) but consistent peace. Maybe not for always, but for sometimes, peace happens and when it happens it creates spaces for people to breathe, make artwork, cook, gather, pray, sing, love and build. When I pray for peace I always think about these moments, because they should not just be moments. When I speak about peace, I speak about it not as an “if” but as a “when”.

As lucky would have it, for this blog, I have recently cooked recipes which involve ingredients from an area of the world which today I am praying for. I celebrate the people I love and I mourn losses of people I don’t know but for whom there will be people mourning. Often I celebrate people by cooking food which is of their culture or of their heart. When a child dies tragically, it does not matter to me who they are or how their parents pray. It matters they are gone and all the promise they had locked in their tiny bodies is gone; they were born essential and the world has been robbed of their contributions and their light. We might have just lost the next great peacemaker, in this tragedy unfolding in this sacred place so far away. So even though when I cooked a dish about Ramadan people might have said I was making a statement against Jewish people or when I cooked Israeli couscous people might say I am making a pro-israel statement, I was simply cooking food to honor people I deeply care about. I cannot offer wisdom about this conflict, but I can say I am hoping peace comes, and it comes soon.