Curried Couscous with Vegetables & Chickpeas

I love all things curry so this was right up my alley! This could be a main dish or a side with some chicken/shrimp or even a veggie soup. I just had it by itself. Very flavourful and the peas added a nice crispiness to it :)
I just remembered I had some yummy mango chutney in the fridge that would have been wonderful with this... oh well, next time!
Hubby, who will not try my vegetarian delights, kept saying how yummy this smelled. Bet he wishes he wasn't so stubborn - I would have shared :) My kitchen does have a great "Indian restaurant smell" I just hope that goes away before tomorrow... lol

I only changed a few things from the original recipe. Here they are:
*Ground ginger in place of fresh (my grocery store never seems to have fresh when I need it!)
*Onion in place of shallots
*Sugar snap peas in place of snow peas (again, couldn't find them. The sugar snaps added a nice sweetness which contrasted well with the curry)

Serves 2-3 as a main dish

Ingredients:
Olive oil
1/2 tbsp. curry powder
1 1/4 cups vegetable stock
1/2 cup couscous
1/4 cup sliced onion
1/4 cup sliced carrots
1/8 tsp. ground ginger (um, I knew I should have written this down! I can't remember if I used 1/8 or 1/4 tsp... either way, I couldn't really taste it over the curry powder)
1/2 cup sliced button mushrooms
1/2 cup sugar snap peas
1/2 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup canned chickpeas (garbanzo beans) drained and rinsed

Method:
1. In a wok or small skillet, heat 1/2-1 tsp. olive oil over low heat. Remove from the heat and stir in the curry powder. Set aside.

2. Bring 1 cup of vegetable broth to a boil in a saucepan. Add the curried olive oil mixture and stir. Add the couscous, stir, and cover immediately. Remove from heat and let sit 5 minutes.

3. While the couscous sits, place a wok or skillet over high heat for 1 minute. Add 1 tsp. olive oil and the onion. Reduce heat to medium and stir-fry until the onion softens. I did this in the same skillet I used to heat the oil and curry powder in step 1. It gave the veggies a great curry flavour (which may explain why I couldn't taste the ginger! lol)

4. Add the carrot and ginger; stir-fry 1-2 minutes. Add the mushrooms; stir-fry 1 minute. Add the peas and stir-fry 1 more minute.

5. Heat the remaining 1/4 cup veggie broth, salt, and pepper in a saucepan. Add the chickpeas and simmer for 2-3 minutes until warmed through.

6. Combine the couscous, vegetables, and chickpeas with the seasoned broth. Serve hot.

Mmmm... wish I'd had some of that Indian flat bread to go with it (again, next time!) ;)


Reference:
This is based on the Curried Couscous with Vegetables and Chickpeas recipe from the book The Occasional Vegetarian by Karen Lee.