That’s what everybody at our house calls this dish. It’s a mix of vegetables sauteed in olive oil over couscous, served over salad greens and topped with feta cheese – easy, fast, fairly cheap and not too bad for the Growing Boy.
First, make couscous. Typically you add 1 C couscous to 1 C boiling water and a little salt. Cover the pot and turn off the heat, allow to stand 5 minutes before fluffing with a fork, cover and let stand until ready to use. This amount feeds the three of us (in this recipe) without leftovers.
For the vegetable mixture:
2 zucchinis, matchsticked: cut each squash into 1/4″ discs and then pile the discs and slice into little sticks. You’ll also need 1 red bell pepper and 1/2 an onion, diced, other cooked vegetables as you wish: asparagus, cauliflower (yellow or purple is nice), green beans, snow peas; and 1 serving for each person of salad greens.
You’ll also need the nicest Herbes de Provence you can get your hands on. I have a friend who went to a French cooking school and brought me back a little jar of herbs that has been a whole education for me just in itself – I don’t know what I’ll do when they’re gone.
Saute the onion and pepper in a good quantity of olive oil (3 Tbs) until softened but not browned. Add the zucchini and cook until soft, adding more olive oil if it is absorbed. Add the cooked vegetables and stir until blended and heated through. Sprinkle generously with the herb mixture and a little sea salt.
Add the couscous and stir gently. Serve by mounding the mixture on a layer of salad greens, top with feta cheese. Strips of heated nan are a nice accompaniment. If the mixture is dry, I add a small amount of salad dressing just before serving.
Good dinner!
I grew up in this house. There were cows wandering the first floor when my parents bought it in 1955 shortly after I was born. My father had adventures and tetanus shots ripping off the decrepit front porch and flipping the huge old floorboards over to hide the damage from the livestock. The house was built in 1770 – or thereabouts and had been updated last around 1800. He did extensive renovations before my grandmother would allow my mother to move in with the new baby.
was 6 pm, it had been dark for 3 hours, the wind chill was minus 17 and we have at least three more months of this – we needed comfort. The recipe below will make you feel great in less than half an hour. I apologize for the picture being mostly about salad. It was great salad, too. Note the Chinese ladle at the top of the frame loaded with marinated chicken, and the bowl of tofu strips and mushroom slices? That’s dinner.