Weeknight one-pan cous cous with sausage, green garlic and asparagus 

My town’s farmer’s market opened today… I practically ran there, delirious with the prospect of fresh local veggies and a transition to spring flavors and colors.  As usual, my weeknight time is limited so I pulled together a simple one-pan meal that centered around my farmer’s market haul.

Expectations:

From the time I started, this dish was on the table and ready in 30 minutes.  It comes together quickly, with minimal chopping and quick to cook ingredients like cous cous and sausage.  I’ve made up dozens of recipe variations using this same theme, it’s speed-of-weeknight-bedlam fast and you can easily substitute with your family’s favorite vegetables or fast-cooking grain.  See my original post on how to conquer daily dinner for a list of my ‘go-to’ weeknight grains and proteins.

Ingredients You’ll Need:

• 2 or 3 tablespoons of olive oil (or other light vegetable oil, i.e. canola)
• 3 or 4 stalks of green garlic chopped into small rounds from the white part to the first 4 inches of the stalk (if you can’t find this springy farm stand fave, substitute with 2 cloves of garlic or the white parts of 3 scallions – chopped).
• 1 lb. of sausage (casings removed) — today I bought Jamaican jerk sausage from a local farm… delicious and their version was mild enough to feed the kids.
• 2 cups of water seasoned with 1 tsp. of turmeric and about 1 tsp. of kosher salt
• 1 cup of dried Israeli-style or pearl cous cous (or Harvest Blend, I buy this at Trader Joes – it’s a lovely blend of pearl cous cous with a little red quinoa, split peas and orzo thrown in).
• 4 stalks of asparagus – tough stem ends removed, chopped into one inch pieces.
• 1 to 1 1/2 cups of sugar snap peas (ends trimmed)
• Optional – 1/2 cup of grape tomatoes, cut into halves or quarters.

Spring veggies — light chopping for the weeknight. Asparagus, sugar snap peas, green garlic & grape tomatoes.

Steps to Put This On Your Table:

1. Using a wide high sided pan or shallow stock pot, sauté green garlic (or garlic or scallions) over medium heat in olive oil for 3 or 4 minutes.

2. Add sausage (increase heat to medium high) and sauté about 7 minutes until browned on all sides.

3. Add water, salt and turmeric, increase heat to high to bring to boil.

4. Add cous cous and asparagus to boiling water, cover pan, lower heat to medium and cook for 9 minutes.

Bubbling away, ready to cover and finish up with the sugar snap peas in the last minute of cooking.

5. Add sugar snap peas and cook covered for one more minute.

6. Turn off heat leave covered for another minute.

Ready to serve and enjoy!

One-dish wonderful! Cous cous with sausage, asparagus, sugar snap peas & topped with grape tomatoes.

Here’s what my children’s plates look like – modified to suit their preferences.

What do you think? If you give it a try or have questions, please let me know in the comments.

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