Couscous with Persimmon, Almonds, and Fennel

Moxie42

This recipe is easy, quick, and only requires one pan! The recipe can be split into smaller portions, and/or the chicken sausage could be removed to lower the sodium (and cals). If you make the serving size smaller, it can be used as a side-dish too.

INGREDIENTS:
* 1/4 cup onion, diced
* 1/4 cup fennel (bulb), diced
* 1/2 cup almonds, chopped
* 1 persimmon, peeled and diced
* 2 large cooked chicken sausage links (I used Trader Joes Smoked Chicken Andouille sausages)
* 1 cup couscous, dry
* 1 cup low sodium, nonfat chicken broth
* 1 tbsp olive oil
* 1 tbsp dried thyme
* 1 tbsp fresh Italian (flat-leaf) parsley

DIRECTIONS
* Heat olive oil in pan and heat up the sausages
* When heated through, remove the sausages and slice them. Keep them aside.
* Cook the onions and fennel in the same pan for 5 minutes.
* Add the sausage, persimmon, almonds, and thyme. Cook for 2 minutes.
* Heat the chicken broth in microwave until boiling, or near-boiling.
* Add couscous and hot chicken broth to pan, and mix well.
* Remove from heat, add parsley, and let sit for 5 minutes.
* Fluff with fork, and serve!

SERVING SIZE: 4

MACROS (based on serving size of three):
* Cals: 403
* Fat: 15
* Carbs: 47
* Sodium: 506
* Fiber: 6
* Protein: 20

anifani4

What is a persimmon? how do you choose one? then what?

Moxie42

Oops, just saw this! I replied to your question on my post


If anyone else was wondering the same thing:

Here is a picture of one:

http://www.google.com/imgres?num=10&hl=en&tbo=d&biw=1112&bih=515&tbm=isch&tbnid=oHE9mRIm9ml4pM:&imgrefurl=http://thegreciangarden.com/2010/12/09/persimmon-smoothie/&docid=J6dSsYekFcHmcM&imgurl=http://thegreciangarden.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/persimmon1.jpg&w=200&h=200&ei=_m22UKS0NK3biwKzuIDgCQ&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=387&vpy=127&dur=1487&hovh=160&hovw=160&tx=88&ty=92&sig=104538040484040761942&page=2&tbnh=149&tbnw=150&start=12&ndsp=18&ved=1t:429,r:20,s:0,i:220

They are a very honey-sweet fruit with a flavor that is kinda has cinnamon flavors in it. You can eat it by itself, like an apple. A ripe one is dark orange and slightly soft, like picking a ripe plum or peach. This is the first time I've used one in a recipe. If you can't find those, you could probably use butternut squash instead since that is slightly sweet- maybe a 1/2 cup's worth.