Moghrabieh (Lebanese Couscous) Pilaf with Summer Squash, Sunchokes, Peas, Pistachios, Cherries, and Chermoula

Don’t let the long title fool you – although it sounds complicated, there’s nothing difficult or fussy about putting together this dish. 

Inspired by the pilafs my mom often made when we had guests over when I was younger, I took the idea of cooking the rice – or in this case, moghrabieh, aka Lebanese couscous (which I’ll get to in a second) – with a fragrant mixture of fennel, mint, toasted nuts, garlic, and bay leaves. But rather than use rice, I opted for a different grain to lend this dish a more Middle Eastern feel.

Early Summer Salad with Quinoa and Strawberry Dressing

I'll admit that there are weeks that I just don't feel like coming up with some creative way to use my CSA share.  Thankfully, produce that grows at the same time of year almost always tastes good together.

Our first share was a perfect combination of vegetables - leeks, lettuce, mizuna, radishes, asparagus, and strawberries - so I decided to keep things simple and incorporate most of it into a salad to highlight the textures, flavors, and freshness of the produce.

Israeli Couscous with Kale, Butternut Squash, and White Beans

It's very obvious that I haven’t been home much in the past few weeks. Between going to my parents’ house for the weekend of Christmas and then back up to NYC the following weekend for New Year’s Eve, I’ve barely been home. And that means that I haven’t gone grocery shopping and that I kind of sort of have the same things in my fridge that have been there the past two weeks. (Thankfully such things last a long time in the fridge.) 

I came home from work tonight and realized that I had slim pickings in the fridge, but I refused to order food because I’ve been eating out for the past 5 days and I couldn’t bring myself to do so yet again. 

Couscous-Stuffed Globe Zucchini

I bought some globe zucchini at the market a while back and completely forgot about them due to my lack of cooking for a while after the aforementioned cocktail party and other events on the weekends. Thankfully, zucchini last a while in the fridge. But they don’t last forever, and so I had to do something with them this week.




Over the past month or so, I’ve seen a bunch of recipes for stuffed zucchini, but none of them appealed to me – either the flavors were just not up my alley or they used merguez or some other sort of sausage (definitely NOT up my alley). I decided to stop looking for inspiration elsewhere and be original by modifying and re-purposing my own recipe for a Mediterranean couscous salad that I normally utilize as a light summer lunch.