Vegetarian Couscous
The CSA sometimes gives you things that you don’t want. Or, more like you think you don’t want. I got a bunch of turnips. Growing up, I only knew turnips two ways: pickled and dyed with beet juice, in a shawarma sandwich (yum!); or stewed in a couscous. I tried preparing turnips simply before, in an American recipe for a warm salad. It was the most disgusting thing I’ve ever cooked. They were bitter and mushy, and the apple cider vinegar-based dressing did not help. I’ve been afraid of cooking turnips again, but I also like exploring new ways of eating things. My turnips’ leaves were yellowing and I had nothing else in my fridge. A neighbor was coming over for dinner, and the weather is shifting into winter, so I thought, “Fine, turnips, you are getting stewed.” When I tasted the couscous, I thought two things: “Why haven’t you made couscous to get you through every New York winter?” and “Why isn’t preserved lemon in everything?” I proceeded to eat this for the next three days and did ...