A Liittle of This, A Little of That

Whenever you asked my grandmother how to make one of her fantastic dishes, she would never give you an exact answer. "It's all in my head," she'd say, motioning in the air with busy bread-crumbed hands. She enjoyed people enjoying her food, but she wasn't dishing out any secrets either.

Ingredients? Measurements? Forget it. "It's just, you know...a little of this, a little of that."

To this day, I have never had breadcrumbs as amazing as hers. Gram's signature stuffed dishes being artichokes, baked broccoli, and spedini. While I never quite mastered the breadcrumb thing, I think of her when I concoct something wonderful in a hurry and can't recall the measurements for the life of me.


Coming home late, staring into my cupboard & fridge, I was hoping to get rid of a few items still lingering. I put a few things together in a rush.

The Working Woman's Mash(!):

• broccoli
• cauliflower
• garlic
• olive oil
• pistachios (I would rather have used walnuts, but I was all out)
  
• cashews
• nutritional yeast
• lemon
  
• whole wheat bread crumbs
• whole wheat couscous
• fresh basil

Steam broccoli and cauliflower. While that's going, start the couscous (I love couscous in a rush because it cooks in 5 minutes!). In a small food processor, put in your nuts, breadcrumbs, and nutritional yeast; blend until you have a fine dust. In a pan, saute the garlic in olive oil until golden. Add in the breadcrumb mixture and get it moist with the oil and garlic, toasting that for about 10 minutes (don't burn). Drain broccoli and cauliflower and add to the saute. Coat the veggies with the crumb mixture and let that cook for a bit until it looks golden and delicious. Top off with some fresh basil and a squeeze of lemon. Serve over couscous. Voila!

Move over Rachel Ray. I've got shit to do tonight!!!