This week we brought a veggie couscous recipe. Couscous is the basic ingredient of a multiplicity of popular dishes in the Maghrebi cuisines. After some research, we found out that it is prepared in more than five different countries and that each recipe varies from country, to town and even to each family. But what is couscous? The ingredient is made of a mix of different cereals such as wheat, semola, etc. There exist two varieties, the most famous one being the thinner version. However, this time we prepared our couscous with the palestinian version, which is a bit thicker, and it is known by Maftoul.

Couscous is a kind of pasta, but with better benefits since its nutritional value has fewer calories and carbohydrates. It is normally a winter dish because of its hearty ingredients, but we thought that it is also a delicious option for a Belgian rainy day!

The couscous counts with the following ingredients:

• 2 cloves of garlic (or as many as your garlic instinct tell you)
• 1 big potato or 2 small ones
• Half an onion
• 1can of chickpeas
• 1 courgette
• 1 aubergine
• 2 carrots
• Palestinian couscous

Spice mix:

• 1 teaspoon of Fair Trade záa’ tar (optional but recommended if you like some spiciness)
• 1 pinch of Fair Trade Black Pepper
• 1 pinch of Bio paprika
• 1 pinch of salt
• 1 teaspoon of cumin
• 1 teaspon of Ras el hanout

PREPARATION

• Wash and cut the vegetables as you wish. If you want to make sure that your aubergines are not bitter, put salt on the pieces and leave it for at least 30 minutes.

• Heat in a pot some olive oil.

• Put your veggies in the pot until golden.

• Mix in a separate plate all your spices.

• Throw the spices on the veggies and mix well

• In a kettle or in a separate pot, heat water until boiling.

• Throw the boiling water on the veggies and add the chickpeas. You can add some vegetable broth for extra flavor. I advise you to take out the aubergine and the courgette if you don't want them to disintegrate in the broth.

• Let it cook for at least 30 minutes, and then throw the aubergine and the courgette for just 10 minutes.

• When your broth is ready, it is the time to prepare the couscous. I recommend following the instructions of the package. This time, the ratio broth-couscous was 3 cups of water for 2 of couscous.

• Measure the broth you need and put it in another pot, when it boils add the couscous.

• When it is cooked, we are ready to set up our plate!

• Serve some couscous on the plate along with the veggies and broth to taste.

• Smakelijk!

TIPS:

• You can add other ingredients you would lieke, there is not just one traditional recipe as every family cooks it differently!
• You can serve the broth as a sauce.
• As an extra tip, we recommend adding chopped almonds as nuts.