Herbed Couscous with Roasted Fennel and Asparagus

I have come to understand the importance of scheduling and time management more than ever before.

Time Management = the act or process of planning and exercising conscious control over the amount of time spent on specific activities, especially to increase effectiveness, efficiency or productivity (wik.)

As a Yoga Teacher in this huge city called Los Angeles, you may have heard of it before :), I find myself driving all over town to guide my lovely students through a 60-minute class. Do I love it? Of course I do! The teaching part that is, not the driving and sitting in traffic part - although it has taught me patience. Add in my nutrition clients - whom I adore, leading nutrition classes, recipe development, preparing and blogging, admin time and oh yeah, planning my wedding…whoa! Someone please throw me a calendar with loads of reminders :)

I am beyond grateful for the life that I am living, the career and business that I am building and for the support of my fiancé, friends and family. Through this journey I now realize how important it is to block off every commitment of my day to stay organized whether this be for teaching, counseling, exercising or relaxing. Let me tell you, I feel better already! Are you in the same boat? You should try it! It is all about prioritizing your time.

Okay, on to the recipe. Cooking a delicious healthy meal doesn’t have to take an abundance of your time. In fact, sometimes the tastiest meals take the shortest amount of time to prepare. Here, I have paired roasted fennel and asparagus with couscous for a simple, fresh and light summer dish.

Interested in learning more about the health benefits of fennel? Click here! 

Note, you could also use quinoa to keep it gluten-free.

* Serves 2 as a dinner entree

Ingredients

1 large fennel bulb sliced thin (I used my mandolin)

1 large bunch of asparagus, washed and ends trimmed
1 can of organic garbanzo beans (chickpeas)

1 cup of whole-wheat couscous

1 cup of vegetable stock (or water)

2 tablespoons of fresh chopped basil

2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil

Sliced raw almonds

1 lemon

Sea salt

Pepper

Directions

Preheat oven to 375°F.

Place the sliced fennel and asparagus on a pan and lightly drizzle with 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Add sea salt and pepper to taste. Roast for approximately 8 minutes.

In a medium saucepan, bring vegetable stock (or water) and one tablespoon of olive oil to boil. Add the couscous, stir, cover and remove from heat. Let the couscous sit, covered, for approximately five minutes. Add basil, garbanzo beans and fluff with a fork.

Spoon the couscous onto a plate. Top with roasted fennel and asparagus. Squeeze with fresh lemon and top with sliced almonds just before serving.