Cleansing...

First, how cute is this family pic? It is so hard to find family pics where Owen is a) not sucking on a foffy, b) looking on the camera, and c) smiling! Since I can remember, my family has always worn the Old Navy 4th of July T-shirts, and this year was no different!

Second: we are starting a cleanse from the 4th of July through the 4th of August. I don't know why the 4th, but it seemed like a great place to start. And, no, we aren't doing the traditional cleanse of lemon juice, cayenne and maple syrup. We are just cutting out that which is superfluous: dessert (boooooo - we are actually just cutting back and only having it 3x/week!), fast food (we eat WAY too much fast food - it is kind of gross), and alcohol (I am going to miss my Skinny Girl Margaritas!). So basically we are just trying to eat whole foods for one month, and then be more intentional after this month about eating healthily.

So we started out our month of "cleanse" with this DELISH dish! I pulled this "Grilled Vegetable and Chickpeas with Couscous" out of the 2006 Cooking Light Annual Recipes. We are committed to have Meatless Mondays and this will definitely be in the rotation, along with the Quinoa Taco Salad!

Grilled Vegetables and Chickpeas with Couscous
Serves 4

Ingredients
1 large zucchini (about 8 ounces)
1 large yellow squash (about 6 ounces - I actually used eggplant)
1 small green bell pepper, quartered
1 small red bell pepper, quartered
1 small onion (I used red), cut into 1/4 inch thick slices (about 1/2 cup)
Cooking spray
1 cup water
3/4 cup uncooked couscous (I used Trader Joe's wheat couscous)
1/2 tsp hot pepper sauce (I used Sriracha)
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper
1/4 tsp ground cumin
Dash of ground cinnamon
3/4 cup cherry tomatoes, halved (I used a whole tomato left over from burgers on the 4th!)
3 tbsp fresh lemon juice
2 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
1 tbsp EVOO (I didn't add this and I didn't miss it either!)
1 (15 1/2 oz) can chickpeas/garbanzo beans, drained
1/4 cup (1 oz) crumbled feta cheese

Instructions

1. Prepare grill. (I used my All Clad grill pan because it was WAY TO STINKING HOT to even consider lighting up the grill and standing outside.)

2. Cut zucchini and squash lengthwise into 1/4 inch thick slices. (I cut the eggplant in 1/4 inch rounds. I also splashed a little EVOO on the zuc and eggplant.) Place zucchini, squash, bell peppers and onion on a grill rack coated with cooking spray; grill 3 minutes on each side or until well browned. Remove veggies to a cutting board; cool. Chop veggies into bite-sized pieces; place in a large bowl.

3. Bring water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Stir in couscous and next 5 ingredients. Cover, remove from heat and let stand 5 minutes.

4. Add couscous, tomatoes, and next 4 ingredients to veggie mixture; toss well. Sprinkle each serving with cheese.

Yield: 4 servings (1 3/4 cups couscous and 1 tablespoon of feta).

*We topped ours off with extra Sriracha sauce!

Here's to a healthy and fresh July!