Grilled Portobellos with Summer Couscous

Hopefully you all had as wonderful a week as we did. The spring warmth and sunny skies can only mean one thing: it's grillin' time! Grilling is a wonderful and tasty way to cut down on oils used for cooking. However, new studies have shown that overcooking food has damaging health effects, so be cautious (look in Nutrition Action archives under September 2009).

Nutrition Action (look for July/August 2009) features some recipes in their journal. There are very few recipes I have tried from this journal because, frankly, they are too healthy. I wish I was one of those people who only ate the fruits and vegetables needed to get through the day, but I LOVE food; I love to cook food, read about food, try different foods, etc. For this reason, I need food that tastes and sometimes no oil, steamed vegies with a side of quinoa does not do it for me.

Quinoa has been all the craze lately because of its grain consistency and overwhelming nutritional value in iron. Unfortunately, due to a bad experience in my home, we have not caught onto the hype. Yes, quinoa is good for you, but the texture is too close to contemporary couscous and cooking it was a disaster. Not to say you won't have a wonderful experience with quinoa, but for this recipe I have substituted Israeli couscous. The consistency is closer to rice or orzo.

Grilled Portobellos with Summer Couscous

4 tbsp olive oil
4 garlic cloves, crush or 4 tsp minced garlic
1/4 c balsamic vinaigrette
2 tbsp soy sauce (low sodium if you have it)
4 portobello caps
2 red bell peppers, ribs removed and sliced (green bells are cheaper but I think red are better for this recipe)
1/2 red onion, sliced
1/2 box prepared Israeli couscous (about 2 cups)
1 pint cherry tomatoes, quartered
1 bunch basil, julienne cut
2 oz feta cheese crumbles (seasoned for plain)

Make marinade: whisk 3 tbsp oil, garlic, vinaigrette, and soy sauce. Season with fresh pepper (the soy sauce makes up for the salt, don't add in addition). Using a pastry brush, saturate mushrooms, peppers and onions with marinade. If you don't have a pastry brush, add marinade and vegetables in a plastic bag and soak for a few minutes. Marinades help keep grilled foods from overcooking.

Set grill to medium (or whatever you call 'medium' on your charcoal grill). The vegetables will grill much better in a grill basket. Continue to baste vegetables with marinade until soft and slightly charred, about 5-10 minutes.

Toss prepared Isreali couscous with 1 tbsp oil, tomatoes, basil and feta. Season with fresh ground salt and pepper. You can add other vegetables to this side dish as well. I added some leftover zucchini that I slightly sauted. Also try cucumber, mushrooms or minced shallot. Serve couscous side with vegetables.

This is one of those recipes that you make when it's a warm night and you don't want a heavy meal OR you want to gorge into some dessert but not take on too much guilt for it. Enjoy!