herbed couscous salad with snow peas, green beans, lemon zest, cumin, sumac, and maybe chicken and maybe not

Here's something springy, some real hope-coded seasonal stuff.

This recipe is loosely adapted from here -- the original called for sugar snap peas, but the grocery store closest to me didn't have them (this was during lockdown); it called for parsley, but I also had some mint that needed using immediately; I added chicken for protein because I can be a bit obnoxious about dinners having both protein and vegetables. The recipe makes about 4 servings, depending on what you consider a serving.

vegetarian/vegan?

Vegan if you take the "maybe not" option.

ingredients

• 2 cups couscous.
• A decent amount of snow peas, sugar snap peas, and/or green beans -- basically, something that is green and holds up to blanching while remaining crunchy.
• One lemon (zest and juice).
• A couple cloves of garlic, or a tablespoon or two of garlic paste.
• Olive oil.
• Spices: Cumin, salt and pepper, and sumac. If you don't have sumac you can add a bit more lemon zest and/or juice.
• A bunch of parsley and/or mint -- or other herbs, it's a template
• Optional: Chicken, if you want. Probably not much.

directions

1. Chop the vegetables into smallish chunks. Separately, finely chop the herbs.
2. Boil 2 cups of water with a pinch of salt and a tablespoon of olive oil.
   (IMPORTANT: The couscous-to-water ratio is roughly 1 cup water to 1 cup couscous. The container of couscous I bought claimed it was 1/4 cup water to 1 cup. Do not believe this! It is a lie!)
3. Once the water is boiling, turn off the heat and remove the pot, add the couscous, and cover.
4. After a few minutes, break any chunks in the couscous with a fork, zest and juice the lemon directly into the bowl, and stir.
5. Meanwhile, saute the garlic in the olive oil on low heat, and add some cumin, salt, pepper, and and sumac once it becomes fragrant.
6. If you're using chicken, slice it into small strips. Add it to the pan, turn up the heat, and let cook, flipping halfway, until both sides are cooked through and browned. Remove the chicken and put in a separate dish.
7. Add more olive oil to the pan if you used chicken and the pan is dry, and add the vegetables.
   Cook for a couple minutes until the vegetables are bright green but still crisp.
8. Turn off the heat and add the couscous and herbs to the vegetable pan, as well as the chicken if you're using that. Stir to mix.
9. "Optionally," add a splash of olive oil, a splash of lemon juice, and an extra pinch of spices.

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