veggie cous cous with chicken and Soyrizo

I think I've about licked this cold enough to get back to work in the morning (and if not, I'm going anyway, because staying home gets old after a while).

So I figured I'd whip up a dinner that would translate well into left-overs for lunch.

Initially I had planned on a veggie risotto, but didn't have *quite* enough arborio rice for what I had in mind. I did, however, have plenty of cous cous.

So instead of death by starch, I decided to go for more KAPOW!

I started the water boiling for the cous cous (sorry, Alton, too lazy for a double-steam tonight) and rooted around in the fridge, where I found left-over chicken from lunch (sans gravy) and some Soyrizo I'd recently picked up for experimentation.

Soyrizo is a vegetarian chorizo substitute and called for the teflon skillet I keep around for "well, if I just have to" occasions. I rapidly concluded that cayenne pepper is a key ingredient. Fortunately, I love cayenne pepper and grow it in my own garden.

Everything came together pretty rapidly, as four separate cooking vessels were in use. (Always nice when the cook doesn't have to clean up!)

Even though this was just a quick meal at home, I like presentation points. So the mixed veggies and cous cous formed a base with Soyrizo on top and strips of chicken framing the dish.

From Iron Redneck