Israeli Couscous and Peas

Another day, another vegan meal that I attempt to make for the first time. This time, I was using two ingredients that I have never tried to prepare before - Israeli couscous and nutritional yeast. 

Amy and I have seen nutritional yeast pop up in a bunch of vegan recipes, manly because it has a nutty, creamy, and cheesy taste. It also contains a lot of vitamins that some vegans can lack, like B12 and protein. We picked up a big tub of it at Whole Foods for $15. Once in our possession, I could not wait to give this vegan Israeli couscous and peas "mac 'n cheese" a try. 

Total time from start to finish was about 25 minutes and could not be any easier. Okay - onto the ingredients and prep!

1. Below are all the ingredients sans the Israeli couscous.

• Garlic salt
• Black Pepper
• Nutritional yeast
• Sea salt
• Frozen green peas
• Israeli couscous

L-R: Garlic salt, black pepper, nutritional yeast, sea salt, frozen green peas

2. In a saucepan, over medium heat, you need the tiniest bit of olive oil. Following the recipe, I put in 1 1/2 cups of Israeli couscous. I found mine at Whole Foods for $3.29/lbs. Stir your couscous for five minutes. Make sure you stir continuously or else the balls will burn. Some will be toasted during this process, but in a rice pilaf kind-of-way, not in a burnt popcorn kind-of-way.

Like rice - Israeli couscous will triple in volume once liquid is added

3. After 5 minutes of stirring, add in 2 1/2 cups of water, 2 teaspoons of garlic salt, 3 tablespoons of nutritional yeast, and salt and pepper to taste.

Water, garlic salt, nutritional yeast, salt and pepper

4. Once your saucepan begins to boil, turn the heat down until it's just a simmer and place the lid on top. This simmer will only take ten minutes, and after five minutes I removed the lid for a quick stir, just to make sure nothing was sticking to the bottom.

Simmer away my little friends

5. After ten minutes, turn off the heat. Add the frozen peas to the couscous and give it a good stir so they are all incorporated. Put the lid back on and let stand off the heat for five minutes. You can already see how much the saucepan has thickened and that couscous has almost tripled in size.

Five looooong minutes!

6. Spoon into a bowl of your choice. If you need to add more salt or pepper (or even more nutritional yeast, if you want it cheesier) you can add it now. I just need a touch more of salt.

SOOOO DELICIOUS!!

This recipe made at least four servings, So I spooned it into some tupperware for dinner tonight and even lunch tomorrow. The flavor is suprisingly close to real macaroni and cheese. The couscous and yeast make it very creamy and risotto-like. For people who think that there isn't enough variety in vegan diets need to try this dish. I'm pretty sure it will change their minds.

I know that even once I move into a flexiterian lifestyle that this will be a staple in my meal planning!

Cheers,

Kate