I come from a family of meat eaters. Meat, fish, chicken – they all featured heavily in most of the meals I ate as a kid. Subsequently, I have eaten these foods in abundance as an adult too. For many years, the idea of making or ordering a vegetarian or vegan meal was out of the question, and if one of my friends offered me vegetarian food, I’d be asking myself “where’s the meat!”
However, more recently, I’ve started to explore the potential health benefits of vegetarianism and veganism. There are numerous populations that survive very happily on a meat-free diet, and I realize that just because a meal doesn’t contain meat doesn’t mean it won’t taste good. In fact, a lot of meat-free food tastes really, REALLY good!
So, I’ve been searching for great vegetarian and vegan meals, and I’d like to share one of my finds with you. It’s tasty, filling, simple, and 100% meat-free. If you, like me, are veggie-curious, I highly recommend you try this recipe for dinner.
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Servings: 4
Ingredients
- 10 ounces couscous – dry weight
- ½ cup pine nuts
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
- 1 15-ounce can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
- ½ cup raisins
- 2 bunches Swiss chard, trimmed
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
Put the couscous and raisins into a bowl, add 1 ½ cups of boiling water, and stir. Leave for 10 minutes. Place a plate on top of the bowl to keep in the heat.
Next, in a large frying pan, toast the pine nuts until they are golden brown – about 3-4 minutes. Transfer the toasted pine nuts to a plate.
Using the same pan, cook the garlic in a little olive oil for about one minute. Add the chickpeas, Swiss chard, salt, and pepper. Cook for about five minutes, or until the chard is tender.
Break up the couscous with a fork, and then divide between four plates. Top off with the chard, and then sprinkle with the pine nuts.
Recipe credit: realsimple.com
Picture credit: rachaelraymag.com
More Recipes
More tasty ideas to prepare at home and enjoy with your family. All my recipes are organized here.
1 Email Every Friday
2 Simple & Healthy Recipes
One Article with Tips and Tricks to Boost your Well-being
100% FREE: One email per week, exclusive content, no ads, and, of course, you can unsubscribe anytime you want.
