Spanish rice - my take

Spanish rice - my take
Ingredients
2 cups raw basmati rice
1 cup of yellow onion chopped up into small pieces (whatever kind you have).
2 average cloves of garlic chhopped fine - more if you are a garlic lover like me
Tomatoes, fresh if you prefer fresh, or a 28-ounce can of plain unsalted, pieces of tomato bits.
1-2 stalks of celery - about 1 cup
hot peppers (fresh if you can) - depends upon what you have - for myself I like Thai birds eye, but seranos, or jalepenos are also nice.  Use only a samll quantity here as the main taste is that of the tomatoes.
2 - 15 oz can of medium black olives, drained and sliced into halves (using another kind like Kalamata, or varities of green - watch the saltiness a little.
1/3 cup olive oil
4-cup water or veg broth.
a small amount of tomato sauce (cut the watre down by some if using)
parsley/cilantro / 1/3 - 1/2 cup
Add no salt because the black olives contain salt to flavor this dish,

Method

Sauté the chopped fresh onion and celery in the olive oil.  Add the raw rice and sauté with the onion/celey until the rice turns yellow. Add the garlic and wait until you can smelll the garlic (about a minute), then add the tomato, either fresh or canned, and the black olive halves and stir around. Add the water or broth. Bring the heat up to a medium temperature so the water is at a slow boil, and then reduce the heat down to a low temperature and cover the pot with a lid. Reduce the heat down to 2-3 to finish cooking, which is a low temp for my gas stove yet will continue the cooking. The rice and vegetables will all cook together blending flavors until all the water is absorbed. Add the parsley. or cilantro at the end and let sit for a minute..

Chickpea Couscous Salad

Chickpea Couscous Salad
Next time I think I would add some roasted red pepper - when I made the below I had to keep in mind a guest that is allergic if chill peppers.
Ingredients
3/4 cups couscous
3/4 cups boiling water
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tablespoon ground cumin
150 g chickpeas, rinsed & drained
1/2 cups flat leaf parsley, chopped
1/2 cup mint leaves, chopped
3 green onions, finely chopped
2 tomatoes, deseed & chopped (about a cup to a cup and a half)
1 lemons, juiced
salt & pepper

Directions

Place couscous in a large heat-proof bowl an pour over boiling water, stir to combine. Cover & set aside for 3 mins or until water is absorbed, fluff with a fork. A trick I learned here is that when you forget to fluff the couscous on time, it becomes pretty solid.  I tossed it into a food processer, - seems to have done the trick.

Heat 1 tblsp oil in a pan, add cumin and chickpeas and cook tossing constantly for 5 mins or until warmed & light golden.
Add chickpeas, parsley, mint, onions & tomatoes to couscous & toss gently to combine.

Combine remaining oil, lemon juice & salt & pepper in a jar & shake to combine well.

Pour dressing over salad, toss well & serve.