Couscous with Vegetables, Oranges, Olives, and Tofu

This all started with some extra firm tofu from trader joe's we bought a week ago. Usually, I make 101 cookbooks' fabulous caramelized tofu recipe or some sort of Asian inspired dish. Since cjr wasn't feeling in much of a cabbage mood, and I wasn't feeling in much of a soy sauce mood I came up with this compromise: A Moroccan inspired tofu dish.

Sure, I could've been much more fussy and made the chickpeas from dried beans, steamed the couscous rather than quick cooking it in boiled water, or cutting up a large butternut squash -- but this way is so much more convenient (and so easy to get at your local Trader Joe's....). I was inspired to make this when I was staring into the refrigerated case at my local TJs and I spotted some olives with fresh herbs. Next I grabbed olives' best friends: oranges. From there I grabbed the bag of squash, and a can of garbanzo beans -- remembering that I had some celery, tomatoes, onions, and carrots hanging out at home waiting to be used!

Obviously, these recipe is very versatile and you can omit/add anything you like. I like my food heavy on the cumin, but you can always spice to taste. Other things I think would go well in the stew include: dried apricots, pomegranate seeds, apples, potatoes, corn, sweet potatoes, zucchini -- the sky's the limit!

Also, you can just remove whole elements. Just the couscous and veggies would be fine, or nix the couscous all together!

And I don't want to hear any complaints about the sugar in the tofu. If you can deal with gobs of sugar in your Thai food, I think you can deal with a teaspoon or so in your dinner.

Plus, this dish is a meal in it of itself! It's got tons of veggies, protein (tofu), fat (olive oil/olives), and whole grain carbs (couscous). So it's actually kind of balanced!

Ingredients
(Makes enough for 4-6)

Couscous
1/2 tsp salt
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cups whole wheat couscous
2 cups water or veggie broth

Stew
1 small onion, diced
3 ribs celery, diced
2 carrots (or 15 baby carrots), peeled and diced
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 cups water or veggie broth
1 16oz can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 12 oz bag butternut squash chunks
4 medium tomatoes, roughly diced
1 tsp paprika
1 tablespoon cumin
1 tsp cayenne pepper
Salt

Oranges & Olives
2 large oranges, segmented
8 oz french olives, pitted and cut in half
1 tsp cumin

Tofu
1 tablespoon olive oil
16 oz superfirm tofu, cut into chunks
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 cup sliced almonds

Garnish
1/2-1/4 cup chopped cilantro

Prep the couscous
1. In a medium sized pot boil the 2cups of water with the 1 tablespoon olive oil and 1/2 tsp salt
2. Remove from heat, stir in the 2 cups couscous
3. Allow to rest for 5 minutes and fluff with a fork

Make the stew
1. In a large heavy pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat
2. When the olive oil is hot, saute the carrots and celery. After 2-3 minutes, add the onions and continue to saute until the vegetables are soft.
3. Add 2 cups of water and the tomatoes, cover the mixture, and continue to cook.
4. (optional) peel the chickpeas to remove the outer skin
5. Add the chickpeas, cumin, paprika, and cayenne to the pot as well and salt to taste
6. In the meantime, cook the squash in the microwave as per instructions on the bag. Ours stated to cook on high in the bag (cutting off the corner) for 5 minutes.
7. Add the squash and remaining water, reduce the heat to medium and allow to simmer while preparing other ingredients.

Make the oranges/olive topping:
1. Mix the pitted olives and the segmented oranges along with the cumin and set aside.

Caramelize the tofu
1. In a large frying pan heat half the olive oil.
2. When the olive oil is hot, add half the tofu.
3. When the tofu is golden is browned on one side, turn them over.
4. Sprinkle in 1 tbsp brown sugar and a 1/4 cup almonds.
5. Don't mix until the other side begins to brown as well then mix until the sugar dissolves
6. Move the tofu/almond mixture onto a plate and repeat steps 1-5 with the remaining tofu.

To assemble
Scoop a layer of couscous, then ladle some of the stew (including some of the juices), some of the olive/orange mixture, a few pieces of tofu and almonds, and a sprinkle of cilantro.