Vegetable Couscous
40 minutes
Vegetables and chick peas, mingled with dried apricots and Middle Eastern spices, make a warm and comforting topping to serve with couscous.
Pat Alburey
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Ingredients
Serves: 2
- 1 small onion
- 3 teaspoons butter
- 3 teaspoons olive oil
- 2 small carrots
- 1/2 small swede
- 1 medium parsnip
- a pinch cayenne pepper
- a pinch ground turmeric
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- a pinch saffron threads, optional
- salt and black pepper
- 1/2 cup dried apricots
- 1/3 cup frozen baby peas
- 1/3 cup tinned chickpeas
- 2⁄3 cup couscous
- To garnish: 2 sprigs coriander
Directions
Preparation:20min ›
Cook:20min ›
Ready in:40min
- Put water on to boil. Peel and chop the onion. Heat the butter and olive oil in a large, heavy frypan. Add the onion and fry gently until soft.
- Meanwhile, peel the carrots, swede and parsnip. Cut into 1cm chunks and add to the onions. Stir in the cayenne, turmeric, ginger, cinnamon and the saffron threads, if using, and season to taste with salt and black pepper.
- Chop the apricots and add them, along with the baby peas. Drain, rinse and add the chick peas. Add 300ml boiling water and bring back to the boil. Reduce the heat, cover and simmer for 15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, pour 1 cup boiling water into a saucepan, add the couscous and stir, then leave to stand, covered, until the vegetables are ready.
- When the vegetables are cooked, season the couscous to taste with salt and pepper. Break up with a fork and transfer to a serving dish. Spoon the vegetables over the top, garnish with coriander and serve.
