Now, if that isn't fast food, I don't know what it! Jamie and your 2 minute meals... move aside! (ok, maybe not.... but you get the picture!)
This was my dinner last night and it's now the morning after the night before so I'm going to have to employ some serious brain cells to write this. So here it is.......
INGREDIENTS
(Serves 2)
1/2 Red Pepper
1/2 Courgette
1/2 Aubergine
1/2 Red Onion
1/2 Sweet potato
1 Cup (250ml) Passata
2 tbsp Coconut oil
1 tbsp Dried mixed herbs
2 tsp powdered Vegetable stock
Agave Nectar to taste
1 Cup (250ml) Dry Weight Cous Cous
1/2 red onion
1 Celery Stick
2 tsp Coconut oil
1 tbsp powder vegetable stock
3 cups (approx) boiling water
I didn't have the bottle of Passata in this picture, as to begin with, it wasn't going to be included in this recipe! Ha! Evolution is wonderful!
METHOD
Riiight, so!
Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees Centigrade. Gas mark I don't know and I have no idea what Fahrenheit...
Chop up all your veg so that it's going to be cooked at the same time. I don't know if this is obvious but that means dicing the sweet potato to 1cm sq cubes and slicing the rest of it into fairly sizeable chunks. For example, slicing the courgette into 7mm thick rounds....
Then get a deep roasting tray and put it on your hob with the 2 tbsp of coconut oil. Get your pan high enough to fry the veg.
*Careful - make sure your pan is suitable for this. It will probably warp but that's okay as long as it hasn't got some kind of coating on it. You could also use an earthenware pot. As long as it is oven suitable. There's not much point cooking it in a frying pan. The idea is that you retain the flavours in the dish. If you're not happy to do this on the hob, put the tray/dish into the oven to heat the oil to almost smoking (quite hard with coconut oil, easier with veg oil)
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| Coconut Oil before melting |
Now, throw in all your veg into the pan, make sure that your pan is big enough so that it's not overloaded.
Sprinkle in the herbs & stock.
Cook on the heat for as long as it takes to lightly colour the veg.
DON'T keep touching the pan like I do! I don't know why, maybe it's from my catering days? but I have this obsession with seeing how hot something has to be before I can touch it. I like to turn my pancakes by hand, pick up hot pans, move hot pans around in the oven without gloves. Maybe it's just me trying to live "On the edge" ? Ha ha! Or maybe I just enjoy the pain!
Now transfer to the oven and cook for.... 15 minutes? Keep and eye on it, depending on how you've chopped your veg and how efficient your oven is, the timings may vary ;)
On to the cous cous.
I added celery to this because it needed using but you don't have to.
Fine dice (brunoise) the celery, 1/2 red onion and garlic.
* A little tip with the celery. I snap mine in half, underneath side facing me - then strip all the tough channels out of it. It's hard to explain.... here's picture if it helps?
In a pan, heat the coconut oil to a medium heat.
Get your kettle on the boil with the water in it.
Throw in the onion and celery and sweat until translucent.
Add the garlic and sweat for another 2 mins or so.
Then add your cup of cous cous to the onion mix and stir fry for about 1 minute - careful not to let it stick to the bottom of the pan.
Sprinkle in the vegetable stock and give the cous cous a good mix before adding the water slowly.
Turn off the heat and keep mixing the cous cous with a fork.
* Everyone likes their cous cous a different way. I like mine quite dry - it wont really hold together if I try to mould it. Practice and figure out how much water you need to add to get it to a consistency that you like.
Sprinkle in the herbs & stock.
Cook on the heat for as long as it takes to lightly colour the veg.
DON'T keep touching the pan like I do! I don't know why, maybe it's from my catering days? but I have this obsession with seeing how hot something has to be before I can touch it. I like to turn my pancakes by hand, pick up hot pans, move hot pans around in the oven without gloves. Maybe it's just me trying to live "On the edge" ? Ha ha! Or maybe I just enjoy the pain!
 | |
| Before it's got a bit of colour but after 3 mins of cooking. |
On to the cous cous.
I added celery to this because it needed using but you don't have to.
Fine dice (brunoise) the celery, 1/2 red onion and garlic.
* A little tip with the celery. I snap mine in half, underneath side facing me - then strip all the tough channels out of it. It's hard to explain.... here's picture if it helps?
In a pan, heat the coconut oil to a medium heat.
Get your kettle on the boil with the water in it.
Throw in the onion and celery and sweat until translucent.
Add the garlic and sweat for another 2 mins or so.
Then add your cup of cous cous to the onion mix and stir fry for about 1 minute - careful not to let it stick to the bottom of the pan.
Sprinkle in the vegetable stock and give the cous cous a good mix before adding the water slowly.
Turn off the heat and keep mixing the cous cous with a fork.
* Everyone likes their cous cous a different way. I like mine quite dry - it wont really hold together if I try to mould it. Practice and figure out how much water you need to add to get it to a consistency that you like.
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| Before the water is added |
Set the cous cous aside, with a lid on the pan , letting it absorb all the water.
Back to the Veg!
You might want to do this just before you add the hot water to the cous cous, to make sure it's all ready at the same time.
Take the veg out of the oven, give it a good mix around with something other than your hand and pour your passata over it. Mix again, taste, add some agave if it's a bit tart and then put it back in the oven for another 10 mins.
After 10 minutes, give the cous cous a mix with a fork and make sure it's a good temperature to eat. If it's gone a bit cold (it shouldn't have) then just put it back on the heat for another 2 mins.
Take the vegetable mix out of the oven, it should be a bit more dry than when you put it in and caramelised a bit around the pan edges.... nom nom nom!!!!!
Throw it all on a plate, however you like to serve it and tuck in folks!
Back to the Veg!
You might want to do this just before you add the hot water to the cous cous, to make sure it's all ready at the same time.
Take the veg out of the oven, give it a good mix around with something other than your hand and pour your passata over it. Mix again, taste, add some agave if it's a bit tart and then put it back in the oven for another 10 mins.
After 10 minutes, give the cous cous a mix with a fork and make sure it's a good temperature to eat. If it's gone a bit cold (it shouldn't have) then just put it back on the heat for another 2 mins.
Take the vegetable mix out of the oven, it should be a bit more dry than when you put it in and caramelised a bit around the pan edges.... nom nom nom!!!!!
Throw it all on a plate, however you like to serve it and tuck in folks!
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