Israeli Couscous With Pistachios and Apricots

This recipe was adapted from Veganomics: The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook. They write that it is Turkish inspired and suggest serving it with grilled vegetables or sweet potatoes, brussel sprouts, and/or red pepper. It sounds good to me, but I love cardamom and cinnamon. Thank you Citruholic and LA Kate for your helpful reviews! Use Veggie broth if you prefer.

• Ready In: 40 mins
• Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 2  tablespoons  vegetable oil
• 3  garlic cloves, minced
• 2  cups israeli couscous
• 1  cinnamon stick
• 1  teaspoon ground cumin
• 1⁄4 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 2 -3  pinches black pepper, several pinches
• 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
• 2 1⁄2 cups chicken broth
• 1  lime, zest of
• 1⁄4 cup mint, fresh and chopped and divided
• 1⁄2 cup  dried apricot, chopped to raisin size
• 1⁄2 cup pistachios, shelled
• 1⁄2 lime, juice of

Directions

1. Preheat a large heavy bottomed skillet over medium-low heat.
2. Place the garlic and oil in the pan and saute for 1 minute.
3. Add the couscous, raise the heat to medium, and stir constantly for 4 minutes; the couscous should start to toast-- add the cinnamon stick, cumin, cardamom, pepper, and salt to toast a bit-KEEP stirring for another one to two minutes.
4. Add broth and lime zest.
5. Raise the heat and bring to a boil.
6. Once the mixture is boiling, lower the heat again to as low as possible and cover.
7. In about 10 minutes, most of broth should have been absorbed.
8. Add 2 tablespoons of the mint, and the apricots, pistachios, and lime juice.
9. Stir, cover again, and cook for 5 more minutes.
10. At this point, the broth should be thoroughly absorbed.
11. Remove the cinnamon stick, fluff the couscous with a fork, garnish with the remaining mint, and serve.