Me Versus the Shish

It's just something I never think to prepare at home, and something I never order when I am out to eat. When my boyfriend suggested we make shish kabobs for dinner, I figured, well, I don't have any better ideas...

We picked up lamb tips from Trader Joe's that were already marinated in a simple seasoning blend. Skewered them with onions, zucchini, and a variety of bell peppers and cooked them in a saute pan. I have a cast-iron grill top that I have yet to season out of sheer laziness; I think it would have definitely come out better using the grill, perhaps simply because it would seem more like an outdoorsy, barbeque-type meal. However, despite the proper cook top, and the apartment filled with smoke, the kabobs were delicious.

I made a couscous dish that cooks up ridiculously fast. Couscous is made from semolina flour, the same flour that creates pasta, so, essentially, couscous is tiny tiny bits of pasta. Use a one-to-one ratio of water to dry couscous: place the water in a pot with cinnamin, cumin, butter or olive oil, salt, and pepper. Once it boils, add the couscous, turn off the heat, and allow the grains to soak up the liquid--it only takes about five minutes. Fluff the couscous with a fork and stir in golden raisins and almonds. This dish can be made in any number of ways, so feel free to individualize with seasonings and additions that suite your taste.

And it's pretty much as simple as that!