Israeli Couscous with Dried Cranberries

I've been loving anything having to do with cranberries lately. Not sure if it's the pregnancy cravings or knowing that Thanksgiving is just around the corner, but I've been looking for every excuse to incorporate them into as many dishes as possible. I love the cranberry sauce from Trader Joes! It's beyond yummy..all natural, no high fructose corn syrup, not that weird jellied stuff with can marks on it. You don't slice this stuff, you delightfully spread it.  I bought two jars a week ago and one is almost gone! It's been going on every turkey sandwich consumed in this house! I will make homemade cranberry relish for Turkey Day, but the spread in the jar is working out just fine for now. Okay, now that I've confessed my love for TJ's cranberry confection, it's time to talk about the Israeli Couscous I made to go with our Grilled Honey Glazed Pork Tenderloin tonight. I always have people ask about this recipe and have always had some trouble telling people how to make it because I just made it up and never took the time to write anything down. I'm going to give it a shot. FYI:  This is a dish packed with "super foods" such as spinach, cranberries, almonds and olive oil. It would also be delicious with roasted chicken or lamb chops! Here you go!

The ingredients minus the lemon, fresh mint, olive oil and seasonings.



Saute the shallots with 1 tablespoon of butter and about 2 tablespoons of olive oil over low heat.



Add 1 teasoon of kosher salt and 1 package (about 12 ounces) of Israeli Couscous.
Brown the couscous in the saute pan with shallots for about 3 minutes

Add 2 cups of low sodium chicken stock to the shallots and couscous mixture.
Bring to a low boil, turn heat to low and partially cover. Cook until the stock is absorbed and the couscous is tender

Add about 2 cups of fresh spinach. Stir into couscous until wilted.
Season with fresh ground pepper (about 1/2 teaspoon).

The spinach all cooked into the couscous...now to make it really happy...
Squeeze the juice of 1/2 a lemon into the couscous.

Remove the couscous from pan to a serving bowl.
Grate in the zest of 1/2 a lemon. Stir it up!

Chop about 1/4 cup of almonds and mix it into the couscous.

Stir in 3/4 cup of dried cranberries and chopped mint.
 If it gets too sticky, just add more lemon juice and olive oil.
Enjoy!!!