Quick Dinner Recipe: Couscous with roasted vegetables
Today was a nearly perfect day - with things going as planned, rains generously hitting the city, water crisis in the house somewhat better, chores getting done before schedule and one dirty window sill cleared of pigeon droppings, and me managing to catch 2 episodes of Jeeves and Wooster in the afternoon while baby was sleeping. And hey, the little boy entertained himself with a kitchen towel, a tomato and a cooker-vessel. Was that a sign??
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup couscous
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 1/2 - 2 cups water boiling hot
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 4 - 5 cloves garlic fat , peeled and smashed
- 1 carrot medium - peeled , cut into diagonal slices
- 1/2 beet medium - peeled , cut into diagonal slices
- 1 strips green bell pepper medium - cut into
- 1 onion small - peeled , cut into thick slices
- 1/4 cup cabbage shredded
- Handful peas frozen
- 2 - 3 green chillies , whole
- oregano dried . I used onesachet
- oregano seasoning that comes
- basil black pepper . Fresh leaves and freshly ground to garnish
Instructions
- Place the couscous, Nutrela granules and salt in a large bowl and pour a cup and a half of boiling water on the top. Mix with a fork, cover and let it sit for 5 minutes. If it gets too dry, add some more water, cover and wait a few more minutes, before fluffing up with a fork. Keep aside.
- In a large skillet, heat a tbsp or more of olive oil. Throw in smashed garlic cloves, let them turn light brown on a medium flame. Next add all veggies except frozen peas (if using fresh shelled peas, then add that in along with the rest). Turn them around on a medium-high flame for 2-3 minutes. The veggies must not overcrowd the skillet - let them be spread out in a layer as they get roasted on a low to medium flame for 7-10 minutes.
- Season with salt, pepper and oregano. You can add some chilli flakes for extra spice.
- Spread the couscous on a large plate and transfer the roasted veggies over it. Flavour with some extra virgin olive oil on top, fresh basil leaves and more freshly cracked pepper.
- Dig in.