Israeli Couscous and Bright Light Swiss Chard

This is the dish I served with the "Moroccan" inspired lamb shanks. This is great warm, room temperature with some garlic bread or use as a stuffing in Old Paths green peppers for baked peppers. Good to have on hand during the week, to make things easier.

1 bunch of Old Path Bright light Swiss chard
1 lg onion (again great choices from Old Path or The Farm B/B
2 cloves of garlic, minced
4 tbsp olive oil
2 c Israeli couscous
4 c chicken stock (preferably homemade)
1 c chick peas, cooked
s/p to taste
4 oz feta cheese (great choices again Jones Family Farm or Mountain View Dairy)


Bring a large pot of water to a boil. In the meantime, rinse and rough chop Swiss chard(stems included). Once the water is boiling add in the stems, cook for 3 minutes. Then add in chopped leaves, making sure to submerge. Continue to cook for 3-4 minutes. Drain well, and rinse with cold water. Squeeze excess water out of Swiss chard, then finely chop and set aside.

In a large pot, heat oil over med heat. Slice onion thinly, then add to oil. Season with a pinch of salt and pepper. Continue to cook over med/low heat to caramelize, about 15-20 minutes. Stirring often to prevent burning.

Add garlic to onion and cook for 1 minutes. Stir in couscous and stir. Cook for about 5 minutes, to toast the couscous. Add in 4 c of chicken stock, bring to a boil. Reduce to simmer, cover and let simmer for 20-25 minutes.

Add in Swiss chard, chickpeas. Stir well. Cover and let stand for 5 minutes. Pour on to serving platter and crumbled feta cheese over top.

To use in stuffed peppers:

Cut tops off of peppers, remove seeds and membranes (chop up the tops to use later or blanch and cool to freeze). Trim the bottom slightly on pepper to make it sit level. Blanch peppers in hot water for 5 minutes, drain well.

Place peppers in a baking dish. Fill each pepper to the top with couscous. Sprinkle with some cheese (choose your favorite. I like Colby or a pepper jack for the heat). Pour about 1/4 water in dish. Tent with foil.(try not to let foil touch the cheese)

Bake in a 350 degree oven for 40-45 minutes, or until a knife can be inserted into pepper with ease. Remove foil and bake for another 15 minutes or until top is golden.