15 Minute Lunch - COUSCOUS!!!

We had nothing prepared to eat this morning and I had to be to work in 20 minutes so I decided, with 15 minutes to spare (gotta love the 5 minute commute) that I would make lemon couscous. Couscous is a fantastic quick meal, I make it for when we go backpacking all the time. Usually I need to dehydrate the chickpeas and the lemon zest for backpacking, and there are, of course no fresh herbs in it, but it makes a fantastic veggie dinner in minutes. The basil at the Waverly Market was fantastic this weekend, thanks Alison!!! Here is my recipe:

Whole wheat lemon couscous with chickpeas & fresh basil.

1 1/2 cups whole wheat couscous (I use Trader Joe's, you can use regular couscous too)
1 1/2 cups water
1 tbsp olive oil
2tbsp chopped sweet onion (on the trail I use a shallot as one is the perfect size)
juice and zest of 1/4 lemon
1/2 can of chickpeas
pinch of dried thyme
pinch of dried rosemary
salt & pepper
julienned fresh basil
1/4 cup crumbled chevre or feta (on the trail I travel with a hunk of parmesan and put that in instead)


Fry the onion for 2-3 minutes in the olive oil, add the chickpeas and saute 1 minute, while you zest the lemon peel into the pot. Add dried herbs and salt. Add water, bring to a boil and add couscous. I always bring the couscous back to a simmer, turn off and let stand for 3-5 minutes. Fluff with fork and add basil and chevre and pepper to taste. You can also squeeze the 1/4 lemon into the couscous at this point. Pack up and cart off to work. This is good warm or cold.