kefta and couscous

I love the internet. I love blogging. I love how I can get so much information from a machine that hooks me up to the world and to people, some that I have met and most that I haven't. My world of food has opened up so much since I have started blogging. I am also grateful that I don't have to work 9 to 5, this gives me a lot of time to experiment in the kitchen as well as explore outside the kitchen (Thanks Satoshi!). The other day, I read Mamatouille's post. If you haven't checked out her blog, you should, she has a lot of great ideas for saving time and money, especially if you have little ones to feed. Mamatouille got the kefta recipe from Kayotic Kitchen(link no longer works). I bookmarked it and debated as to what I should pair this dish with. I flipped through Ellie Krieger's "The Food You Crave" (hope you aren't getting tired of this book) and found a recipe for "Herbed Couscous Timbale with Dried Fruit and Nuts"....perfect! and the only ingredients I needed to buy were ground beef and a lemon for the kefta. I subbed most of the ingredients for the couscous, for one, I didn't have fresh basil, so I threw some dried into the stock. For the stock, I used a bouillon cube. Also, the recipe called for red bell pepper but I used both green and red. I didn't have pine nuts nor dried currants, so I used mac nuts and dried cranberries. The only ingredient I didn't sub was the dried apricots and couscous (though the original calls for couscous that is preferably whole wheat). For the kefta I followed the recipe as best I could, I didn't have a whole chili pepper, so I used the dried sliced chili that I had and I didn't add the salt. The reason I chose this couscous recipe was because it used the zest of the lemon, and the kefta used the juice of the lemon. While poaching the kefta in the sauce, I scooped out as much oil that came out as possible. I made this on a weekday but wouldn't recommend this for working moms/dads, it does take some time to put together. I guess if you made this ahead then you could reheat it for a weekday. The lemon flavor and moroccan spices are delicious together. Today is the First Day of Spring and the Vernal Equinox also known as Shunbun no hi, which means that it is a holiday here. Hope you have a great weekend!