The Red and the Black: The Sequel. Black Quinoa, Pearl Couscous ,Tomato Coulis

Ingredients

• 1
  
  pound ripe tomatoes
  
• 2
  
  Hatch chilis roasted*
  
• 2
  
  cloves garlic chopped
  
• 
  
  Extra virgin olive oil, as needed up to ½ cup
  
• 1/2
  
  of 1 bunch cilantro washed and torn up by hand
  
• 1
  
  cup black quinoa
  
• 1
  
  cup pearl couscous (aka Israeli couscous), Bob’s Red Mill™ preferred
  
• 4
  
  cups water
  
• 
  
  salt
  

Directions

1. Begin by roasting your chilis over an open gas flame or on an outside grill. Once the skin has blackend place them in either a paper bag or a bowl covered with cling wrap to steam. After they are cool enough to handle peel off as much black skin as you can. Don’t worry if there are some residual streaks. Cut off the tops and yank out the seeds. A few strays aren’t going to hurt. Give the peppers a rough chop.
2. Core and then cut your tomatoes into chunks.
3. Heat up the olive oil in a sauce pan over medium-low heat. Add the garlic and allow it to color a bit. Then add the peppers and the tomatoes. Season with salt. Allow this mixture to simmer until soft and gooey. You are going to mill it anyway so don’t worry about texture right now.
4. Meanwhile prepare your quinoa and couscous. In one pot get water boiling (for pearl/Israeli couscous follow the package directions as cooking time can vary)add the couscous and cook until al dente. This might take 10-15 minutes or more.
5. In another pot heat up two more cups of water just to where it’s beginning to boil. Add salt and then your black quinoa. Cover and hold at a simmer for about 15 minutes. You will know it is done when that little ring (the germ) begins to appear and the texture is soft. Turn off the heat and hold covered.
6. Now that the tomatoes and peppers have simmered down place a food mill over a large bowl and work the mixture through. This will remove the skins and most of the residual seeds. You can use a blender or food processor for this but the results will be somewhat less elegant. I’ll leave that up to you.
7. Wipe out the pan you used for the tomatoes and return the mixture and re-warm. It doesn’t need to be very hot.
8. In another large bowl combine the cooked quinoa and couscous along with the chopped cilantro, more olive oil and salt. Taste it!
9. To the plate! Ladle out the tomato and chili mixture and top with the quinoa/couscous.
10. *Few things smell better than fresh roasted Hatch chili when it’s in progress. As noted you can substitute the canned variety in the off season. You can also substitute long Anaheim chilis which are available most of the year but the flavor is weak in comparison