Serves 6–8 / If you can boil water and have five minutes, you can make couscous. The students make this recipe at their desks by layering the ingredients in a mason jar; it’s that easy. Food lesson: How many grams of fiber should you eat every day? The answer is in your birth year. For children age 2 to teens, add 5 to your age to get the minimum fiber grams you need; for example, if you are 10 years old, you need at least 15 grams of fiber. Prep tip: Add crumbled feta cheese to make this even more flavorful.
1 1/2 cups dry whole-wheat couscous
1 1/2 teaspoons no-salt Mexican seasoning (such as Mrs. Dash)
¼ cup pine nuts
1 cup corn kernels (fresh, canned and drained, or frozen)
1 4-ounce can diced green chiles, drained
2 1/2 cups hot vegetable broth
1 cup diced cherry tomatoes
½ avocado, scooped out with a 3/8-inch melon baller
1. Place couscous in a bowl; stir in Mexican seasoning and pine nuts. Layer corn and chiles over the top. Pour hot broth over couscous mixture. Cover with plastic and let sit for 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork. Gently stir in tomatoes and sprinkle avocado balls over the top.
PER SERVING: 261 cal, 24% fat cal, 7g fat, 1g sat fat, 0mg chol, 8g protein, 45g carb, 6g fiber, 121mg sodium