Healthy Vegetable Couscous(Low Fat Or Fat Free)

This is a very simple,healthy,delicious and quick to make dish. A very healthy combination of colorful vegetables and couscous.Done in under 15 minutes can be had for breakfast,brunch,lunch or dinner.Whole family will enjoy this healthy couscous dish.

Let's see how it is made---------------

Main Ingredients :

-------------------------

Whole Wheat Couscous...................1/2 lb

Yellow Zucchini................................1(small)

Green Bell Pepper............................1(medium)
Onion...............................................1(small)

Tomato.............................................1(medium)

Mushroom........................................6 oz

Olives..............................................1/4 cup

Seasoning Ingredients :

---------------------------------

Minapappukaram/Lentil Powder............................1tbsp or per your taste(Recipe for this powder is here)

Canola/Olive Oil.............................1.5tbsp
Red Pepper Flakes.........................1tsp

Salt.................................................to taste

Garnish :

--------------

Dried Sweet Cranberries.................1tbsp

Preparation :

----------------------

Place a pan on high heat and add oil.Once the oil is hot add onion,zucchini,green pepper and mushroom and fry on high heat for 3 minutes .You don't want the vegetables to get soggy or over cooked.

Now add olives and tomatoes and fry for a minute.You can see that this dish is almost fat free,if you look at the pictures you can see that I used oil to just coat the pan.

Now add crushed red pepper,salt and minapappukaram/spiced lentil powder to the vegetables and stir well.

While the vegetables were cooking I boiled water in the microwave and added couscous to it and covered it.After 5 minutes I fluffed it up and added to the vegetable mix and stir well .

Finally garnish with dried sweetened cranberries.

Voila ! Healthy and delicious vegetable couscous is ready to be served.

We enjoyed this with home-made cauliflower pickle and seasoned green chilly.Will soon post the recipe for seasoned green chilly.

Note :
-----------
1) I cooked on high heat as I did not want the mushroom ,zucchini and tomatoes to get soggy.

I am sending this to CFK-WWF event hosted by Priya Mitharwal and started by Sharmi.

I am sending this to Twenty-20 cooking event hosted by Niloufer .

Quick Vegetable Pasta(Eat as Salad or Main Course)

Cook the Pasta not the Veggies.This is a very quick and simple healthy pasta salad.After pizza , a very favorite dish for kids is pasta or noodles.Pizza is cheesy and Pasta is easy to eat . Pasta comes in different shapes,sizes and colors so it is a great attraction for kids.The pasta dish I am presenting here today can be eaten as a salad or can be eaten as a main dish.It works both ways.I call this a salad because I am using raw vegetables in it.

Let's get into the preparation of the dish-----------

Main Ingredients :
-------------------
Elbow Pasta.................1lb(use any kind)
Zucchini........................1(yellow/green)
Snap Peas.....................1cup
Cauliflower....................2cups
Kidney beans.................8oz can

Ingedients for Dressing :
-------------------------
Black Pepper Powder..............2tsp
Yellow Mustard Paste..............2tsp
Red Vine Vinegar.....................1tbsp
Olive oil...................................2tbsp
Thai Red Chilli Paste................1tsp

Preparation :

-------------

Cook pasta according to the package directions(add salt and oil in water while cooking pasta).While the pasta is cooking prep the vegetables.Wash all the veggies you are going to use and cut them in bite sizes.

Once the pasta is cooked al-dente drain the water from the pasta and add little olive oil to the hot pasta,immediately add all the vegetables you have cut, to the hot pasta and close the lid.The vegetables will get steamed with the heat of pasta.Remove the lid and add the rinsed kidney beans to the pasta.

Now take all the seasoning ingredients except chilli paste and place them in a bowl and whisk them well and pour over the pasta and vegetables.Stir the pasta well so that the vinegar-mustard-olive oil dressing blends well with the pasta.

Yummy vegetable pasta is ready to serve.If you want to make it more spicy add Thai chilly paste in the pasta for adults .

Note :

-------

1) Use any kind of pasta.You can use whole grain pasta too .They all taste good with this recipe.

2)You can also add bell-peppers ,olives , broccoli and sweet corn to this dish.

3)Do not add any cheese to this dish.It tastes good without cheese because of the dressing.

I am sending this recipe to Cooking with pasta event hosted by Sowmya of Creative Saga.

I am sending this recipe to Healthy Inspirations -Salads event hosted by Usha.