Thursday, May 20, 2010

King Of Queen Couscous Salad

Whoever thought I was the queen of my kitchen is going to have that myth dispelled today with this post.

Yesterday was a rare evening when P wanted to take matters in his own hands. Of course, I had to prep, chop, dice, and even crack pepper. He was feeling rusty and I was feeling lazy after all that Gajar ka Halwa. So the chemistry was perfect. tonight My magic (read “rare”) moment of digression led me to park myself on the couch, prop my feet on the foot stool and turn on Food Network. From the couch, I watched my own personal chef boil couscous, toss everything in a bowl, mix everything up and serve a crunchy salad on a hot day.

Most of the ingredients were found in my personal air-conditioned art gallery commonly known as the fridge! You know all those humble leftovers from previous rendezvous in the kitchen. Except for these fresh, crisp stems of asparagus.
IMG_8264 Of course, I had to wash, clean, cut and throw them in the oven with some EVOO, salt and pepper. All this work on a promised evening off made me realize I was something-in-between a Sous chef and a princess. I am allowed to sit out, but I have to dice, chop, and wash. But he “made the dinner”. Really!IMG_8264 IMG_8281 Remember those aromatic arugula from another day? Yes, they too. I was beginning to see what had inspired him. But I wasn’t complaining. Complaints about the cook could jeopardize my meal.
IMG_8284 IMG_8286 IMG_8287 Our meal of couscous salad with arugula, baby prawns, grilled asparagus, capers, seasoned with parsley, lemon juice, EVOO, salt and pepper looked complete.
IMG_8288 The stack of dirty dishes in the sink spoke well of who we were – two people who love eating! I wonder if someone in Japan is working on a self-cleaning kitchen…

After all, what's that saying – a meal is complete, when the kitchen is neat!

9 comments:

Sanyukta Gour(Bayes) said...

cool write up..haha...and the couscous sald looks teriffic...mindblowing

Sharmila said...

Couscous salad dekhe khub ekta interest jagchilo na ... and then I saw the last snap. How can something that has prawns thrown in that liberally not seem interesting to me? ;-)
Your hubby does make a mean salad. :-)

Anonymous said...

Nice post :-)

Couldn't try any of your recipes yet. We are now trying out various preparations using the convection oven. Tandoori chicken came out good. breaded fish fillet (fish fry) was also good.

PreeOccupied said...

@Sanyukta, you must try it. Its the most nourishing thing to have.

@Sharmila, I so love couscous, can have it with any greens. Adding the prawns was just a little decadent.
:-)

@Raja, now I am on my way to your place! Btw which fish did you make with?

Anonymous said...

Tilapia.
That's our regular 'pona-maachh' here :-)

PreeOccupied said...

"Pona maach" ta aabaar ki?!

Anonymous said...

:-o
pona maachh jano na?!

!!!

!!!

!!!

:-p

PreeOccupied said...

Must be something vulgar!

Tayi aami jani na.

Ki ota?

Sush said...

Couscous my favourite too..