How to Cook Healthy Couscous with Beef (Vegetable Couscous)

Couscous recipe is a healthy simple hearty food that can be cooked plain or with other ingredients, this easy meal can be enjoyed as a main course or as side dish to other food. Couscous is a cheap food made from DURUM wheat and it is highly nutritious, hence it is a very healthy meal for those with High Blood Pressure and diabetics.

A simple plain couscous can be served with tomato sauce or with a simple fish stew, while a well-seasoned couscous prepared with healthy ingredients is better served with lamb chops, grilled chicken, chilled salad or coleslaw. The above picture is what I will call couscous salad or vegetable couscous because I used lots vegetables to prepare it; it may not really be couscous salad as it may look, because I cooked my vegetables for few minutes to bring out the real flavour before mixing them into the couscous. In this case, you can still cook this meal without steaming or boiling your own vegetables the way I did, thats what even makes it the couscous salad.

Vegetable couscous or couscous salad is indeed a very quick and simple meal that can be enjoyed with friends and family; apart from instant noodles recipe, I have not really seen a quick meal like it even though there are. There are so many simple couscous recipes to go for such as jollof couscous and stew couscous; one of my best couscous recipes is the vegetable couscous followed by the lamb couscous recipe and the chicken couscous. All these couscous recipes are hearty, super easy and cheap for any time of the day.

Vegetable couscous is the best couscous recipe as far as I am concerned, it is rich, filling and satisfying, however, an easy couscous can still be prepared using some simple ingredients, but packed with healthy vegetables like the above. Cheese can be used to make a spicy couscous meal; Ground beef, steak, chicken, liver and lamb chops are the types of meat that goes well with couscous dishes.

Adding few simple vegetables to couscous dish helps to enhance the texture and flavour too, you should always use healthy vegetables in your meals, except you dont like them, and dont forget to add some spices like garlic, ginger and thyme in your couscous for an extra flavour, as I always love the flavour spices in my dishes.

The best way to cook a simple couscous is to soak it in beef broth or chicken broth (stock) for 5 minutes before adding in the prepared sauce or dressing into it to stir; I will further explain this with pictures below.

Couscous Salad Ingredients

1. 500g dried couscous grain
2. 500g beef and liver or chicken breast
3. 1 cup beef or chicken broth
4. 3 pieces of tomatoes, diced
5. 1small cucumber, diced
6. 1 medium onions, chopped
7. 3 cloves of garlic, minced
8. 1 small ginger, grated
9. 1-teaspoon thyme
10. 2 red bell peppers, diced
11. 3 medium carrots, chopped
12. -cup peas and green beans
13. 2 sticks coriander/parsley leaves chopped
14. 2 seasoning cubes and salt to taste

 

How to make vegetable couscous with beef

1. Season the beef and liver with onions, spices, salt, and cook until they are soft.
2. Add 1 cup of water to the meat and cook to extract enough broth for the couscous.
3. When the meat is cooked, drain from the broth and wait for it to cool.
4. Cut the liver into tiny bits and the beef into medium sizes if theyre so large and keep aside.
5. Bring the beef broth into a medium pot and bring to a boil. Add the dried couscous into the beef broth and make sure it soaks up the liquid.
6. Once the couscous has absorbed all the water and becomes soft; fluff with a fork and set it aside.
7. Place a frying pan on heat; add 1 big spoon of vegetable oil into it. Start frying beef and the liver, once they are brown, remove from the oil and keep aside.
8. Saut onions, garlic and ginger in the same oil for 30 seconds or until they produce a nice fragrance.
9. Add the diced tomatoes into the oil and fry for 10 minutes, when the tomatoes have cooked, add the green beans, peas, bell peppers, carrots and the diced cucumbers and cook them for 5 minutes.
10. Season the vegetable with, thyme, curry, 1 seasoning stock cube, chilli pepper and salt to taste.
11. Let this cook on a medium heat for another 5 minutes; return the beef and the liver into the vegies and stir. Remove the pan from heat, stir in all the vegetables into the couscous, and gently fluff with a fork to combine. Place the couscous on heat for just 3 minutes to get hot again.
12. Serve your vegetable couscous warm with fresh parsley and a chilled fruit punch.

How to cook vegetable couscous with pictures

1. Season the beef and liver with onions, spices, salt, and cook until they are soft.

2. Add 1 cup of water to the meat and cook to extract enough broth for the couscous.

 

3. When the meat is cooked, drain from the broth and wait for it to cool.

4. Cut the liver into tiny bits and the beef into medium sizes if theyre so large and keep aside.

 

5. Bring the beef broth into a medium pot and bring to a boil. Add the dried couscous into the beef broth and make sure it soaks up the liquid. You don’t have to use beef broth like i did, you can simply soak your dried couscous in hot salted water for 10 minutes to become soft or simply boil it for 5 minutes on heat to absorb all the liquid.

6. Once the couscous has absorbed all the water and becomes soft; fluff with a fork and set it aside.

 

7. Place a frying pan on heat; add 1 big spoon of vegetable oil into it. Start frying beef and the liver, once they are brown, remove from the oil and keep aside.

 

8. Saut onions, garlic and ginger in the same oil for 30 seconds or until they produce a nice fragrance. You can just add the your fresh chopped vegetables to the cooked couscous without steaming them; just because i did not want the vegies to taste bland, i decided to add few seasonings to give more flavour to my couscous and then steam them for few minutes on heat.

9. Add the diced tomatoes into the oil and fry for 10 minutes, when the tomatoes have cooked, add the green beans, peas, bell peppers, carrots and the diced cucumbers and cook them for 5 minutes.

 

10. Season the vegetable with, thyme, curry, 1 seasoning stock cube, chilli pepper and salt to taste.

11. Let this cook on a medium heat for another 5 minutes; return the beef and the liver into the vegies and stir.

 

12. Remove the pan from heat, stir in all the vegetables into the couscous, and gently fluff with a fork to combine. Place the couscous on heat for just 3 minutes to get hot again.

 

 

13. Serve your vegetable couscous warm with fresh parsley and a chilled fruit punch.