Lunch: Lemon-Pistachio Israeli Couscous

Recipe by /contributors/david-lebovitz Couscous Israélien au Citron et aux Pistaches Every year in Menton, a city near Nice that's on the border of Italy, there's a festival celebrating the famed Menton lemons. Plump and irregularly shaped, they're seaso

This recipe includes fertility superfoods such as:

Cinnamon, Lemon, Cranberries

Health and fertility benefits of Lemon-Pistachio Israeli Couscous

Cinnamon is one of the best ingredients that someone with insulin sensitivity can eat. Half a teaspoon of cinnamon per day has been shown to be very effective at normalizing blood sugar levels. Cinnamon contains hydroxychalcone, which is thought to enhance the effects of insulin. It has also been suggested that Cinnamon prevents post-meal blood sugar spikes by slowing the gastric emptying rate - meaning that food digests slowly. (Reference: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11506060). Lemons can help to prevent oxidative damage to the body, which women with PCOS are often susceptible to. Researchers believe that cranberries contain substances that prevent infection-causing bacteria from sticking to the urinary tract walls. However, store-bought cranberry juice is typically all sugar - so make sure to stick with straight cranberries.

Ingredients

1 preserved lemon
1/2 cup (30g) chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
2 tablespoons salted or unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup (80g) diced dried fruit (any combination of cherries, cranberries, apricots, prunes, or raisins)
1/2 cup (65g) unsalted (shelled) pistachios, very coarsely chopped (almost whole)
3/4 teaspoon sea salt or kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 1/4 cups (225g) Israeli couscous or another small round pasta
Freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

Trim the stem end from the lemon and cut it into quarters. Scoop out the pulp and press it through a strainer into a medium-sized bowl to extract the juices; discard the pulp. Finely dice the preserved lemon rind and add it to the bowl along with the parsley, butter, dried fruit, pistachios, salt, and cinnamon.
Bring a pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the couscous and cook according to the package instructions. Drain and add it to the bowl of fruits and nuts, stirring until the butter is melted and all the ingredients are well mixed. Season with black pepper and serve.

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