Outrageously delicious! The umami flavor of the slowly sautéed cabbage combines beautifully with the sweetness of the orange caramelized onions and perfectly seasoned wholegrain couscous! The chickpeas are a nice protein addition. The only trick to this Orange Caramelized Cabbage Couscous recipe is to have the patience to cook down the veggies for a good 30 minutes so as to bring out their full caramelized flavor! You can make it ahead and serve it cold if you’d like so it also makes for a great picnic salad!
Orange Caramelized Cabbage & Couscous
Outrageously delicious! The umami flavor of the slowly sautéed cabbage combines beautifully with the sweetness of the orange caramelized onions and perfectly seasoned wholegrain couscous! The chickpeas are a nice protein addition.
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 10 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 25 minutes
Servings 6 -8
Calories 155 kcal
Ingredients
- 1 cup whole wheat couscous dry
- Dressing:
- Juice of 1 large orange about 1/2 cup
- Juice of 1 small lemon about 1/4 cup
- 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 tsp turmeric
- 1/4 tsp salt
- Caramelized Cabbage:
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 medium yellow onion thinly sliced
- 1 small curly cabbage sliced or chopped finely
- 1 small red cabbage sliced or chopped finely
- Juice of 1 large orange about 1/2 cup
- 1 15 oz can chickpeas (rinsed & drained)
- 1/2 tsp salt
- fresh ground pepper to taste
Instructions
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Place dry, uncooked couscous in a large salad bowl.
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Mix all the dressing ingredients together and pour over the dry couscous, stirring once to coat well and let it sit for 10 minutes, uncovered.
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Meanwhile, heat 1/4 cup of olive oil in a large pan and sautee the onions for a few minutes, until soft.
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Add the chopped cabbage to the pan (don't worry it will seem like a lot but it will cook down-I promise!) and stir often to coat with oil, continuing to cook on medium heat for 20 minutes.
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Add the 1/2 cup of fresh orange juice, chickpeas and salt and continue to cook, uncovered for an additional 10-15 minutes, until the cabbage is of a golden color.
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Turn off the heat, and let it cool a little bit.
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When ready to serve, gently stir the caramelized cabbage/onions with the "marinated" couscous in the salad bowl (see video clip below).
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You can serve this dish, hot, or at room temperature or even cold the next day--all superb!
Just found your website a couple of days ago after hearing your husband make a presentation on our company intranet. So I search your site for a recipe to use a very large cabbage I received from my CSA box. This fit the bill. I substituted quinoa for the couscous and added the dressing after the quinoa was cooked minus the oil called for in the dressing. Made it less saucy and there was already a quarter cup in the cabbage mix. Delicious without the cabbage too – I tasted it before I stirred it all together. Will make this again minus the chickpeas… they just added an undesired texture to this for me personally, and since I’d used quinoa instead of couscous I don’t feel too compelled to add the extra protein that the chickpeas give it. I’ll be trying one of the butternut squash soups this week. I grew several 5-pounders this year in the garden and need new ways to use them up too!
Enjoy watching your healthy recipes and enthusiasm.
Q: Do you think it would be weird to replace the couscous with quionoa? I need to stay away from wheat.
p.s. I discovered your site through an interview viewing your husband on Awakening from Alzheimers. 🙂
Q, Do you have suggestions for healthy breakfasts for growing childdren (I’m a grandma.)?
Thanks!
OH! I want to try many of your recipes. 1ts this and then the vegan black rice burger! mmmm
WELCOME Peggy!! Thank you for your lovely comment! No, it wouldn’t be weird using quinoa, it would be quite delicious and very nutritious as well, BUT you cannot use it dry, like the couscous, as it will NOT absorb the dressing and it will stay raw, unlike the couscous, so if you want to use quinoa, you’ll have to pre-cook it first, following these directions: https://cuisinicity.com/simply-quinoa/ The only thing I don’t know for sure is if there will then be too much dressing, because it usually is completely absorbed by the couscous. Worth a try!
AS for growing children, I have a wonderful Cocoa Oat Almond Shake, filled with protein, fiber, mineral and vitamins. https://cuisinicity.com/cocoa-oat-almond-shake-vegan/ If they love chocolate, they will LOVE IT! my growing 17-year old son has it every morning he loves it so much and I feel good having his tummy full with the wholesome power ingredients that are in it. There are many others, you’ll just need to peruse the Breakfast category! Also, I have a stealth mom post that you might enjoy, it absolutely is perfect for loving grandmas such as yourself too!! https://cuisinicity.com/stealth-mom/
Enjoy! So happy to have you at the Cuisinicity table! 🙂
Wow! Thank you. Super sweet reply and resourceful! I’ll be perusing your site, especially before I visit my grandchildren in November. We traditionally make a smoothie together. Yay! Now we have something new and nutritious to try! Awesome! I read the ingredients for the chocolate shake. Perfect! Especially for busy families. Love it! (ha ha, but I’ll hide the ingredients and have them taste the finished product first!) Also, I have some friends turning to a plant based diet (not so much me, I still eat sardines, etc.), this site will be great for them! Thank you for your labor of love!
Hahah Peggy, I love your enthusiasm!! Any small shift toward a more plant-mased diet is good but you don’t have to go all the way! So, you are doing great, besides, sardines are good both for our health and sustainable if chosen right https://www.seafoodwatch.org/seafood-recommendations/groups/sardine?q=sardine&t=sardine, so you go girl!! 🙂
Thank you for heads up on sardine choices. 🙂
Mmm – this recipe (also) sounds lovely and I look forward to trying it. Just one question regarding the chickpeas: how much should one add and do you use tinned chickpease?
Thanks, Catherine, for your great website.
Oh my goodness Anna, thank you so much for letting me know I had forgotten to list the chickpeas in my ingredients!!! I can’t believe I did that! I use 1 (15 oz) can of chickpeas, rinsed and drained. I went back to the recipe to fix that! Thank you thank you! 🙂
You’re welcome, Catherine. I can’t wait to try this. In the meantime, I have just been looking at your video for the vegan burgers and I can’t wait to try those too.
YES!!! As you can probably tell, I am especially proud of this recipe!!! 🙂 🙂 I can’t wait for you to try!
You’re welcome, Catherine. Thanks – now I can shop for this dish. I have also just been looking at your vegan-burger video and will be trying that too very soon. They look so good.