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R ecipe of the Month

Colorful Couscous Salad with Chicken

1 cup couscous
2 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup dry white wine
2 tsp olive oil
2 Tbsp fresh lime juice
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 clove garlic, minced
1 pound boneless skinless chicken breast, cubed
1 green bell pepper, cut into chunks
1 red bell pepper, cut into chunks
1 yellow bell pepper, cut into chunks
4 green onions, chopped
1/4 cup black olives, pitted, for garnish

Prepare couscous following package directions, using chicken broth for liquid. Drain and set aside. Combine wine, olive oil, 1 TBsp lime juice, 1 tsp cumin and garlic together in a large skillet. Add chicken, then simmer over low heat until the liquid has evaporated and chicken juices run clear, 5 - 7 minutes. Transfer cooked chicken to a large bowl and add 1 TBsp lime juice, 1/2 tsp cumin, bell peppers, green onion and couscous. Toss mixture well and garnish each serving with a few black olives.

Exotic salad is a delicious way to experience the extraordinary taste of couscous. Couscous is made from refined durum wheat and looks like tiny grains. It is often used in North African cuisine. Try the leftovers cold for lunch next day. By Alice.

Wine, chicken, bell peppers, lime and green onion

Recipe Archives:

Turkey and Noodle Soup with Sage
Spinach Squares
Spinach and Sesame Salad
Garlic Sun-dried Tomato Brie Cheese
Spring Greens w/Strawberries, Toasted Walnut & Tangerine Poppy Seed Dressing
National Steamed Chicken & Sweet Ginger Soy Sauce

Cherry Blossom Trees in park

Featured articles on spices

Spice is a dried seed, fruit, root, dark or vegetable substance as food additive for the purpose of flavoring. It also makes food taste better.

Spice trade lasted for a long time since 950 BC as worth gold and highly prize in the world. For example, in towns they used peppers as token in substitution of money for tax. One pound of ginger was worth a sheep. Cloves were worth $20 a pound.

This current topic focuses on cardamom as the queen of all spices. It acts as a mouth freshener after meals by chewing the pods or a seed. It has a strong, unique taste with an aromatic fragrance. As a herb perennial plant it is a spicy, aromatic herb as part of the ginger family.
cardamom plant

Cardamom was the first used around the 8th century as a native of India. Perhaps it was imported around 1214 during the Renaissance into Europe and known as the Elixir of Life. It is popularly used in baking in Scandinavia, and the most used in India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Guatemala, Mexico, Thailand and Central America. It is also called as Kardamomma in Iceland.

Cardamom is purchased either in seed or powder. The seeds are ground into powder. Powder is preferred since you need to crush seeds well into powder. It is good for cakes, cookies, buns, chicken, jelly and waffles. It can be used as substitute for cinnamon.

Medicine uses:

Cardamom helps clear damp and phlegm (mucus produced by the respiratory system) in China. In India it is boiled and the steam of hot water inhaled to tread headaches. Or, seeds are boiled in milk sweetened with honey to make a drink to treat impotence or depression. It is good for digestion, and helpful against morning sickness in pregnancy.

Spiritual and sex uses:

It is often found in love charms (or perhaps better to say lust charms). It is a stimulant to the mind and warming to the body. As it uplifts the spirits, it helps calm the nerves and clarifying thinking.

Alice's favorite recipe: Finnish Cardamom Tea Loaf

2 cups unbleached flour

2 tsp ground cardamom

1 1/2 tsp salt

3 large eggs

1/4 cup sour cream

1 stick butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350%. Lightly grease and flour a loaf pan.

Combine dry ingredients in a bowl and set aside.

Beat eggs and sugar together until creamy. Add dry ingredients and mix until combined. Mix in sour cream and melted butter.

Pour batter into prepared pan, baking until done about an hour. Cool in pan for 15 minutes, then turn out onto rack and finish cooling.

By Alice who decided to write about spices as topic for DWC newsletter. Please send your articles about any of the spices you love to share with DWC members and friends.

Tip:

Cardamom can be used as additive for coffee and helps detoxify caffeine.

Add at least one and half teaspoon to any ground coffee bean before starting the machine. This is sometimes used by Cassandra.