late summer vegetable dish served with couscous

For Yasmin – a favourite of yours and a thank-you for all your patience in holding those heavy skillets, plates, seeds, vegetables and flowers in all sorts of elements – wind, rain, cold and in all those inconvenient times…Xx

This is one of the weekly lunches I make for the children to take to school, Jonathan to work, and me to have my first meal around eleven. I have a list of meals in the kitchen that I refer to so I don’t have to spend time thinking about what to make when I start cooking early in the morning, and the combination works for everyone’s likes and dislikes. 

This dish is perfect when you need a simple, soft-tasting, cleansing dish.

tips

• The key is to cook the vegetables so they remain vibrant and firm lightly.  
• When you need a more hearty protein dish, add 1 cup of cooked chickpeas, broad beans, or lima beans instead of potatoes.
• When available, corn fresh off the cob is a nice addition.

late summer vegetable dish served with whole-wheat couscous

serves 4

The couscous is great because it cooks in only 10 minutes. Whole wheat couscous is a finely crushed form of durum wheat semolina, less processed than pasta and with more fibre and nutrients.

for the couscous

2 cups whole-wheat couscous

3 cups boiling water

1 Tbsp ghee

½ tsp salt

for the vegetables

2 Tbsp ghee/olive oil

1 Tbsp yellow mustard seeds

2 fresh/dried bay leaf

handful of mixed herbs: mint, coriander, dill, parsley, fennel tops

2 carrot, chopped into diagonals

2 medium potatoes, peeled and cut

½ – 1 cup well-flavoured vegetable stock

1 bulb fennel, thinly sliced into rounds/2 sticks celery

1 zucchini or handful of green beans, chopped into diagonals

1 red bell pepper, seeded and finely chopped

3 Tbsp small dried currants

salt and pepper, to taste

squeeze of lemon

¼ cup pine nut parmesan

preparation 

1. Place the couscous in a large bowl with 1 tablespoon of ghee/oil and salt. Pour the boiling water over the couscous, cover, and leave for 10 minutes. When ready to serve, fluff up with a fork. Set aside.
2. In a medium-sized heavy-bottomed saucepan, heat the oil. When hot, add the yellow mustard seeds and saute for a few seconds. Then add the stock, bay leaf, soft herbs, celery, and potatoes, simmer for 10 minutes, carrots, red pepper, and green beans, and cover and simmer for 4 minutes or more.
3. Once the vegetables have softened slightly but are still firm and vibrant, add the soft potatoes, breaking them up with a fork, and the currants. Simmer for two more minutes.
4. Turn off the heat and stir in the salt, lemon juice and a few rounds of freshly ground pepper.

serve

Spoon the couscous into a deep plate, bowl, or lunch box. Sprinkle over a good helping of fresh parsley, dill or coriander. Spoon the vegetables onto the centre of the couscous. Drizzle with good-tasting olive oil, a generous sprinkling of pine-nut parmesan or toasted pine nuts, and garnish again with freshly chopped coriander or parsley and a few rounds of freshly ground pepper.

Goodness shared by Stacey