Is couscous the most boring food? ?

It so isn't!

I can make an entire meal out of the stuff.

My cousin (who's 3 years OLDER than me btw) can't cook for **** so I went to her Uni home armed with bags of instant lemon cous cous.

We went shopping and bought chedder cheese, 2 onions, 2 peppers, tabasco sauce, ham and some big portabello mushrooms.

This recipe serves 2, btw.

Empty one packet of cous cous (or enough for two) into a bowl and cover it with boiled water. Stir as your pour it and stop when the water is about a centimetre over the cous cous. Wait for the cous cous to absorb the water.

Lightly brush 2 mushrooms with olive oil and put them smooth side up onto a baking tray. Put them into the oven at about gas mark 6 (I am not very great with degrees so check out what it would be in fahrenheit or celsius).

Meanwhile, finely dice the onions, peppers and a few slices of ham. Fry them on medium heat in a drizzle of oil until the mixture goes golden brown. I find that frying the onions and peppers FIRST until they're halfway brown then adding the ham avoids anything burning as you don't have to cook ham!

When that mixture is done, add the cous cous to the mix, which should have absorbed all of the water you put into it.

Anyway, check on the mushrooms. If they are slightly moist, turn them over (so that the stalks are facing up) and you should see moisture on that side too. Put them back into the oven like this for 2 minutes for the moisture to evaporate.

During this time, grate some cheese into a bowl (enough to top the 2 mushrooms generously) and add a few splashes of tabasco into the cous cous. Sprinkle some salt and pepper to your tasting and stir.

Get out the mushrooms and spoon some of the cous cous into the hollows of the mushrooms. Top with the grated cheese and shove the mushrooms under the grill until the cheese is golden brown and sizzling.

Serve one mushroom each (they are pretty massive) with a salad on the side.

I made this for her one night at her home near Uni and, I swear, it was probably the only home-cooked meal she'd had since being there!

Tut, tut. And SHE's supposed to be the wiser one.

Jewelled couscous

Serves 4

Preparation time less than 30 mins

Cooking time less than 10 mins

Ingredients

700ml/1¼ pint chicken or vegetable stock

350g/12oz couscous

1 lemon, grated rind only

4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

55g/2oz toasted flaked almonds

75g/3oz ready-to-eat dried apricots, chopped

55g/2oz sultanas

3 tbsp chopped fresh parsley

salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

1. Boil stock in a saucepan. Pour in the couscous in a thin stream and stir in lemon rind. Cover pan, remove from heat and leave for 5 minutes, fluffing with a fork after 2 minutes.

2. Drizzle over olive oil and stir in almonds, apricots, sultanas and parsley. Season.

3. Either serve immediately or cover with foil and keep warm in the oven for up to 30 minutes, or allow to cool, cover with clingfilm and reheat in a microwave oven.

No I think it is most versatile and you can do many different flavors with it.What I like to use is Shrimp with lemon and dill.

I prepare my couscous the regular way.

In a heavy skillet add a little olive oil,fresh onions and dill finely cut and saute for a few min.add your shrimp and cook until shrimp changes colour,add salt and pepper and some red pepper flakes. Deglage with lemon juice and if you want some white wine.

Mix with couscous and enjoy,simply delicious

doesn't have to be, it's more of an ingredient than an actual food to me.

try mixing it with rice or bulgar wheat

I usually do that and dress it with butter, lemon juice black pepper and some chopped spring onions. You can boil it in stock instead of water which can make it taste of something.

It's also pretty good for stuffing whole fish with.

try the above mixture stuffed in a bream or trout then either pan fry or roast it. Pretty tasty and healthy and a good alternative to breadcrumbs in some cases..

Pour spaghetti sauce on it, it is the bomb!

I also use garlic in my couscous.

I was just turned on to it and absolutely love it...it can be boring though.

You can use vegetable stock instead of water to give it some flavor.

I like it. I saute minced garlic and shallots, add chicken stock salt and pepper and couscous. After it has cooked I add fresh oregano and feta cheese. It is delicious

It depends on what you put in it! If you put flavorful ingredients in the couscous it will taste great.

Here's one of my favorite recipes -

http://allthingsitalianinmt.wordpress.com/2008/07/...

The trick is to season it well.

Be creative by

adding cooked vegetables

or mushrooms !!

Also try adding flavored broths

or meat !!

It's the type of consistency

that grows on you after a few tries.

NO. I find it really lovely and smooth and light to eat. When I have it I add peppers, lemon juice, mushrooms, herbs. You just need to use your imagination a bit when using Cous Cous. But not all at once!

I stir it into a mince stew.

It is good to use to bulk out a meal.

As is it is like tofu, absolutely bland, but it will take on the flavours you add.