If you look on parve chicken soup powder with distaste, look away, this vegetable couscous recipe is not for you. But it is definitely for me and my family. Soup powder is a wonderful way to add depth and flavor to parve dishes, such as this family-style luncheon dish. If soup powder is a concern for you, look for one with no additives—something definitely available in natural food stores.

Vegetable Couscous

Yield:

6 or more servings

Ingredients:

• 3 T. parve chicken soup powder
• ¾ t. ground cinnamon
• 1 t. ground turmeric
• ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 2 carrots, peeled and cut into 2-inch pieces
• 1 onion, quartered
• 1 butternut squash, peeled and cut into large chunks
• 1 sweet potato, peeled and cut into large chunks
• 3 zucchini or vegetable marrow, washed, stem and blossom end removed, sliced lengthwise, and cut into 2-inch lengths
• 1 can of chickpeas, drained
• 1 package couscous
• Vegetable oil
• 1 t. salt
• ¼ cup (or more to taste) golden raisins
• (Butter for serving, for those who eat milk products)

Method:

1. Bring 2 quarts of water to a boil in a large pot. Add soup powder, cinnamon, turmeric, and cayenne pepper. Stir.
2. Add carrots and onion, lower heat, cover, and simmer for ten minutes.
3. Add butternut squash and sweet potatoes, raise heat and bring to a boil. Lower heat, cover, and simmer ten minutes.
4. Add zucchini, bring to boil, lower heat, cover, and simmer 5 minutes or until a knife tip can pierce a zucchini chunk easily.
5. Add the chickpeas to the pot and remove from heat.
6. Make the couscous according to package instructions, stirring in the salt and raisins into the couscous along with the oil (amount of oil according to package instructions), and substituting the cooking liquid from the vegetables for the water or other liquid.
7. To serve: Place the couscous into individual bowls, ladling some soup and vegetable atop each portion. Optional: top with a pat of butter.

Note: You can use any combination of vegetables you like. A quartered fennel bulb is a nice addition.