Thursday - Couscous and roasted carrots with spiced meatballs

Roasted carrots

Old Man Winter reared his ugly head today.  I told you he would likely make an appearance again.  We are currently sitting in the midst of a wintry mix.  It's cold and blustery and no one in their right mind should have to leave the warmth and coziness of their  homes.  The roads are looking treacherous. No worries though, my Zippidy Do Da sunshine will be back out on Sunday with a forecast of 60 degrees on the radar!  On the menu tonight is couscous and roasted carrots with spiced meatballs.  Doesn't that sound delightful and warm?  I prepared the meatballs earlier today and my kitchen smells fantastic!  I can't wait to cook them up.  My belly is rumbling!   I'm not making any changes to this recipe as everything on the menu sounds delightful.  Here's the recipe:



Couscous and roasted carrots with spiced meatballs

Yield: 4
Ingredients:
1 pound carrots, cut into 2-inch pieces
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
coarse salt and ground pepper
3/4 pound ground beef chuck (85% lean)
1 1/2 teaspoons reserved spice mix (see Menu's post)
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh cilantro leaves
1 bunch scallions, white and green parts separated, half of each minced and remaining thinly sliced
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 cup couscous
1/2 cup sliced almonds, toasted
lemon wedges, for serving

Directions:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  On a rimmed baking sheets, toss carrots with 2 teaspoons oil and season with salt and pepper.  Roast until tender and golden, 20 minutes, tossing halfway through.
In a medium bowl, combine beef, spice mix, cinnamon, cilantro, minced white and green scallions, and egg; season with salt.  With hands, gently mix to combine and form into 16 meatballs.  In a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium-high.  Cook meatballs until browned on all sides, about 8 minutes total.  Add 1/4 cup water, cover, and reduce heat to low.  Cook until meatballs are just cooked through, 5 minutes.

Meatballs

Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, heat 1 teaspoon oil over medium-high.  Add sliced scallion whites and cook, stirring, until softened, 3 minutes.  Add 1 cup water, cover, and bring to a boil.  Stir in couscous and season with salt and pepper.  Cover, remove pan from heat, and let stand 5 minutes.  Fluff couscous  with a fork and stir in almonds and sliced scallion   greens.  Serve meatballs and any pan juices with couscous, carrots, and lemon wedges.

Couscous

Notes:  After consuming this dish, we were not fond of the meatballs.  They need some work.  Any suggestions are welcome!  Everything else was fantastic!

Dinner is served

On a side note, I have cinnamon raisin bagel dough in the fridge!  Hot damn, I can't wait until Saturday to make those suckers up!  Hell, I may not even wait.  I may do it on Friday!  Look at me being the rebel!  Of course I used the recipe that I posted in my Bagels post.  The only thing I did differently was I added a cup of cinnamon chips and a cup of raisins to the dough before I mixed it up.  I don't think I have to tell you not to add sesame seeds.  The dough smells fantastic!

Oh what a treat!  I ran down stairs to grab my last bag of carrots out of the freezer and I found a little Cadbury creme egg hiding in the grocery bag!  I forgot I bought that.  Natalie will be excited to see it as I bought it for her.  Apparently, she forgot about it too.

Thanks for stopping in on this cold, blustery evening!

Source: Everyday Food