One day I am going to make couscous properly, rolled in a little oil and steamed lovingly over a pot of simmering stew.
But for now, I take the 'smallest pasta in the world / fast food' view of couscous.
I bring one cup of water to the boil in a small saucepan with a pinch of salt and about a teaspoon of olive oil. I turn off the heat and tip in one cup of couscous. On goes the lid and I leave it two minutes. Then I scrape a tablespoon of butter onto the end of a fork and start tickling, combing, it into the couscous until the butter is melted in and the couscous is fluffed up with each grain separate. Then I put a folded tea towel over the saucepan and the lid on top, and let it sit for a few minutes fluffing itself further.
All done quicker than it took to write this!
And the roasted ratatouille is easy too, but hush! don't tell the rat in the movie! This recipe came from 'Moosewood Simple Suppers' and it is so easy, yet the flavours are true to the traditional pot version. I love it.
Turn the oven to high and put in a big roasting tray to heat up.
Cut 1 zucchini, 3 onions, 1 eggplant, 2 tomatoes and 2 bell peppers into 1 inch chunks and put in a big bowl.
Add 6 cloves of peeled garlic, whole or as chopped as you like.
Sprinkle 1 tsp of salt and 1/2 tsp pepper over the veggies and then add 1/3 cup of oil, and give it all a mix.
(I added some springs of rosemary too).
Then get the roasting pan out of the own (without burning your hands) and tip the veggies in.
Pop it in the oven and let it roast for 15minuets. Give it a stir and then roast for 20 minutes. Another stir and it will only need 5 or 10 minutes more. The veggies should be juicy and fork tender, and the flavours intense.
Serve with some fresh basil leaves.
I added a salad which was less elegant but perfectly delicious. Mmm and there are left overs that are SO easy to warm up!
Here is my green visitor. Sorry she (or he?) is so blurry. In real life she was neat as a pin, waiting at my back door. Well... tucked neatly in to my back door!
