Recipe - Couscous With Chickpeas And Vegetables

One half cup Chickpeas; dried
2 tablespoon Virgin olive oil
2 Cloves garlic; crushed
1 Onion; chopped
1 teaspoon Ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon Paprika
1 teaspoon Ground cumin
2 Carrots; cut or sliced up 1/4"
4 Baby turnips
4 cup Sweet potato; chunks
1 cup Tomato juice; or less
1 One half cup Vegetable broth
3 Sliced zucchini (courgettes)
One fourth cup Dried apricots
8 Button mushrooms
2 tablespoon Chopped parsley
Salt; to taste
Freshly ground black
pepper; to taste
1 cup Water
1 1/3 cup Couscous; instant
3 tablespoon Golden raisins; (sultanas)
Chopped chives; for garnish
Yellow rose petals; for
garnish,
Optional

PREPARATION (2 hours or overnight) Rinse peas and sort. Place in a bowl,
cover with boiling water and soak for a t least 1 hour or overnight. Drain,
place in a large saucepan and cover with fresh water. Cover (lid) and bring
to a boil. Cook over medium heat until tender, about 1 hour. Drain and set
aside.

COOKING (40 minutes) Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large,
heavybottomed saucepan over lowmedium heat. Add the garlic, onion,
cinnamon, paprika and cumin. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion
is soft, about 3 minutes. Add the carrots, turnips and sweet potatoes and
cook, stirring continuously, for 5 minutes. Add the tomato juice and
stock and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce the heat and simmer for 15
minutes. Add the chickpeas, okra/squash, apricots, mushrooms and parsley
and simmer until the vegetables are tender, about 1012 minutes. Season to
taste with the salt and pepper. Bring the water to a boil in a large
saucepan. Add the couscous and sultanas and mix well with a fork. Remove
the pan from the heat and let stand for 2 minutes to allow pasta to swell.
Add the remaining oil to center of the couscous, return pan to heat and
cook over medium heat, stirring until heated through, about 4 minutes.
Spoon couscous around the edge of a serving dish. Garnish with the chives.
Spoon chickpea and vegetable mixture in the center and sprinkle with rose
petals, if using. Serve immediately.

490 cals | 10 g of fat.