Bigger than what you might expect.

I pulled together a new side dish for dinner the other night using one of the many grains in my pantry. I have some cool stuff in there; quinoa, amaranth, barley, wheat and the star of this side: Israeli couscous. I've recently learned it is also called Ptitim. There you go, a new factoid to file away.

Essentially, these couscous are larger and rounder than your standard couscous, like small pearls. We love them, they make for a quick side dish. Often I mix them in with other grains out of the pantry, but this night, I left them on their own and threw in a few other ingredients I had either  in the pantry or in the fridge. Thankfully, the result was delicious and not a fail.

Couscous with Carrots

1/3 teaspoon olive oil

1 cup uncooked israeli couscous

4 medium carrots, grated

2 1/2 cups chicken broth or stock

1/8 cup sliced, toasted almonds

1 tablespoon fresh parsely, chopped

Heat the olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat and add the couscous. Stirring frequently, lightly toast the coucous for 2 minutes. Add the carrot and stir to combine. Pour in the chicken broth and bring the mixture to a boil, stirring occasionally. Reduce the heat to low, cover the saucepan and allow the couscous to cook until al dente, about 8-10 minutes.

Fluff with a fork and add the almonds and parsely, adding salt and pepper to taste.

Serves four (about 1 cup a serving) at 5 WW points each.

Don't look now, but I also made the Dijon Chicken again, this time with dill!