Peppery Meat Loaf with Couscous

• ¾ cup water
• ½ cup reduced-sodium beef stock or water
• ¾ cup whole wheat couscous
• 1 lb extra lean ground beef
• 8 oz Italian sausage, removed from casings and crumbled
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced
• ½ cup finely chopped parsley
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 cup reduced-sodium tomato sauce, divided
• 1 tbsp sweet paprika
• 1 tbsp ground cumin (see Notes)
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• ½ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp cayenne pepper

Preheat oven to 350°F.

In a saucepan, bring water and beef stock to a boil. Gradually stir in couscous. Cover, remove from heat and set aside or let stand until couscous is tender and water is absorbed, about 15 minutes. Fluff with a fork before using.

In a large bowl, combine ground beef, sausage, onion, bell pepper, parsley, eggs, all but 2 tablespoons of the tomato sauce, paprika, cumin, coriander, salt, cayenne and couscous. Using your hands, mix until well blended. Transfer to a 9x5 inch loaf pan and spread remaining 2 tablespoons of tomato sauce over top. Bake in preheated oven until temperature reaches 165°F on an instant-read thermometer, about 1 hour.