I don’t think it’s a secret anymore that I’m a sucker for stews and soups, and most definitely always for a quick and flavorful like this one!
Very recently I realized that the type of pork you can get in those little tubs that say pulled pork on, but no sauce on, is actually the cut of meat that we like to put in our stews back home, specially bean stews. Now, home it is on a bone and in that combination stews get much more flavor, but really. Once you get a sunny day after a long gray winter, don’t complain it’s just 50 degrees, Enjoy it. And when you finally find ‘buncek’ type of meat in America, easily available, just shut up about the bone, right? Right.
Not to confuse it with the wrong one, I got Curley’s sauceless naturally hickory smoked and seasoned Pulled Pork. That right there is a winner.
Having found that, I planned to do the typical Croatian bean stew. And I almost did, which would be just as awesome as this, or even better because I grew up on it and it’s dear to my heart, I actually can’t believe I have had this blog for almost four years and somehow managed still not to post about it, but then I went to Trader Joe’s. And I saw an awesome Israeli couscous mix for soups and stews. This baby had the said couscous in mixed with baby garbanzo beans, orzo, quinoa and goodies like that, so I said t myself, nomnom, I got to try this. I believe it’s called Harvest Grain Blend, if you have Trader Joe’s near you, you can use it for this delicious soup, or make your own mix!
Israeli Couscous Stew with Pork Stew
6 to 8 servings
2 cups Harvest Grain Blend from Trader Joe’s
*or your own mix of Israeli couscous, orzo (in this mix they have red and green), red quinoa and dried baby garbanzo beans, if you don’t have dried one you can just as easily add a can of garbanzo beans.
1 can of pigeon peas (gandules)
1 large carrot, finely chopped
1 tub of sauceless pulled pork
chicken stock
5 cups of chicken stock
salt and pepper
2 bay leaves
chopped green onion for garnish
Bring chicken stock to a boil and then lower the heat to simmer, add pulled pork and carrots to it and also your bay leaves and cook for about 10 minutes.
Add the dry mix and beans and season with salt and pepper. Cook for another 20 minutes or so. At this point if the stew seems too thick for your taste you can add some water to it, Check for seasoning and if needed cook for a few more minutes.
Serve in bowls and garnish with chopped green beans.
