Recipe: Couscous with chickpeas and fresh vegetables

Now that my summer classes are over, I have a lot of free time on my hands. This can only mean one thing as far as I'm concerned...more time to cook for myself! I decided to put my box of whole wheat couscous to work. The original recipe calls for cucumber, but mine went bad so I just omitted it. I'll still include it in the recipe, though, since I'm sure it's good with the addition.

Ingredients:
1 cup water
1 cup uncooked couscous
1 (15 ounce) can garbanzo beans, drained
2 roma tomatoes, thinly sliced
1 cucumber, peeled and sliced
1/4 teaspoon olive oil
1/4 teaspoon lemon juice
garlic powder to taste
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
1. Bring water to boil in a medium saucepan. Stir in couscous, and remove from heat. Cover, and let stand about 5 minutes, until liquid has been absorbed. Fluff with a fork.
2. In a large bowl, mix couscous and garbanzo beans. Toss in tomatoes and cucumbers. Stir olive oil and vinegar into the mixture. Season with garlic powder, salt, and pepper

open thread: why are we hiding nutrients?

Most of the TV watching I do takes place while I'm cooking dinner and waking up in the morning, so I don't pay a whole lot of attention. Lately I've been catching more and more commercials for drinks that "hide" servings of fruits and vegetables.

Personally, I think the idea of disguising servings of fruits and vegetables is completely backwards, especially when it comes to kids. If anything, we need to teach children the importance of eating fruits and vegetables that are purchased fresh and cooked in a way that keeps their nutrients intact (i.e. steaming and grilling instead of frying and boiling).

I'd like to hear everyone else's opinions on this matter!

fresh or frozen?

growing up, my mom served salad at almost every dinner we had. my parents would eat all of the vegetables in it, my brother wouldn't eat any of it, and I would limit myself to lettuce, vegetables, and cucumbers (I came around to tomatoes as a teenager). We never ate frozen vegetables, because my mom always believed that fresh is better.

When I started cooking for myself my junior year of college that i discovered the joy of frozen vegetables. my mom was appalled when she went food shopping with me and i headed for the frozen food section. the thing is, frozen vegetables are the best option...for me at least.

first, I'm only cooking for myself, so fresh vegetables won't last long enough for me to stretch to their full potential. Green Giant makes Just for One frozen vegetables, which are individual packages of single serve frozen veggies. My favorite is the peas and corn in basil butter sauce. second, research shows that frozen vegetables are more nutritious than fresh produce. fresh produce is picked before they reach full maturity because they are shipped across the country. frozen vegetables are harvested at their full maturity, which means they contain all of their nutrients.

in a recent issue of Vegetarian Times, there was an article on vegetables that professional chefs recommend buying frozen. I won't post the entire list, but it did include edamame and peas.