Couscous with Raisins and Almonds
This Couscous with Raisins and Almonds is a light and tasty side dish or meal starter you’re sure to love. This dish pairs beautifully with grilled or baked chicken or beef as a side, or just chop your protein up and mix it in to make it one dish! It’s also super easy to make this into a vegetarian main course. Just add chickpeas or the meatless protein of your choice.
Not only is this couscous easy to make and so versatile, it’s delicious! I love how light and fresh the flavors are in this dish. The couscous has a bit of sweetness from the raisins, carrots, and orange, and it’s also a bit savory from the chicken broth, salt, pepper, and parsley. The textures are great, from the tiny grains of couscous to the juicy, plump raisins, to the crunch of the almonds. Better still, I almost always have all these ingredients on hand (not always fresh parsley, but if you substitute a little less and use dried I won’t tell) so it’s easy to whip up as needed. Each tasty serving of this Couscous with Raisins and Almonds is just 185 calories or 5 WW Points. To view your current WW Points for this recipe and track it in the WW app or site, click here! Just add your preferred cooked protein and you have a meal ready!
Looking for more tasty lightened up side dish ideas? Check out my Garlic Herb Mushrooms, Salt and Vinegar Roasted Cauliflower, Easy Salsa Rice, Zucchini Casserole, Garlic Roasted Green Beans with Almonds, Watermelon Feta Salad, Lemon Pepper Mushy Peas, Roasted Delicata Squash, Avocado BLT Pasta Salad, Strawberry Quinoa Salad, Roasted Fingerling Potatoes, Broccoli Salad, Cheddar Broccoli Orzo, Zucchini Squares, Butternut Squash Quinoa Salad, Easy Garlic Knots, Garlic Thyme Roasted Carrots, Cheesy Broccoli Bake, Greek Orzo Pasta Salad, Spinach and Parmesan Orzo, Loaded Cauliflower Bake, Parmesan Roasted Sweet Potatoes and more in the Side Dishes category of my recipe index!
Couscous with Raisins and Almonds
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons light butter, I use Land O’Lakes
- 1 large carrot, grated (I grated mine using a box grater)
- 1 small onion, chopped
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 cup uncooked couscous
- ¼ cup raisins
- 1 ¼ cups reduced sodium fat free chicken broth, or vegetable broth if making vegetarian
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon orange zest
- 1 tablespoon fresh orange juice
- ¼ cup sliced almonds
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
- A pinch of black pepper
Instructions
- Place the butter in a medium saucepan and melt over medium heat. When the butter is melted, add the carrot, onion and cinnamon and stir to coat. Cook for 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally, until softened.
- Add the couscous and raisins and stir to combine. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 4-6 minutes to “toast” the couscous. Add the broth and salt and stir. Once bubbling (this happened right away for me), cover the pan with a lid and remove from heat. Let the pan sit, covered, for about 8 minutes until the liquid is fully absorbed. Fluff the couscous with a fork. Add the orange zest, orange juice, almonds, parsley, and black pepper (to taste). Stir together and fluff again before serving.
Notes
185 calories, 31 g carbs, 5 g sugars, 5 g fat, 1 g saturated fat, 5 g protein, 3 g fiber (from myfitnesspal.com) MyWW SmartPoints per (3/4 cup) serving:(SP calculated using the recipe builder on weightwatchers.com) Green: 6 SmartPoints/ Blue: 6 SmartPoints/ Purple: 6 SmartPoints Weight Watchers Points Plus:
5 per (3/4 cup) serving (PP calculated using a WW PointsPlus calculator and the nutrition info below) Inspired by Cooks Illustrated