Apricot & Mint Couscous

My best friend, Dr. CET, just started her first year as a resident in the windy city of Chicago.  She is working arduous hours (i.e. 30-hour days).  Yes, you read that correctly; she is working 30-hour days.  Her first night on call, she slept a whopping 20 minutes.  Because her schedule is so demanding, when she does get to go home, she doesn’t have the energy to cook dinner (Umm can’t say I blame her!).  She asked me if I could send her some of my recipes that are quick and easy to make.  After having worked an 8-hour day and feeling quite tired myself (this is quite lame compared to my friend’s tedious schedule), I made apricot and mint couscous. Couscous is easy to make and it literally cooks in 5 minutes. If you don’t care for the apricot and mint combination, substitute it with tomatoes and basil. You can eat this hot or cold too.  Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 1  3/4 cups water
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tsp honey
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1  1/2 cup couscous (I used Israeli couscous from Trader Joe’s, but any kind is fine)
• 4 fresh apricots
• 3 tbsp chopped fresh mint
• 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
• Salt & pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Cut the apricots into a small dice and set aside
2. In a saucepan, bring water, oil, honey, and cumin to a boil and stir in couscous.
3. Immediately remove the pan from heat, add the apricots to the couscous, and let stand, covered for 5 minutes.
4. Fluff couscous with a fork and stir in mint, lemon juice, and salt and pepper to taste.
5. Serve warm or chilled.

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