I love cous cous, mostly because it needs no cooking whatsoever. It’s really one of those healthy instant meals where you just add hot water. This dish came about because of some leftover vegetables in the fridge. Rather than letting it go bad, I thought why not just eat it with something plain, but instead of always turning to rice, I’d reach for cous cous instead.
Once I served this for my son’s birthday party, everyone thought it was rice, but they were mystified and intrigued that it isn’t like rice at all, texture and taste-wise. Cous cous is somewhat in the same family as pasta. Traditional cous cous is laborious to make but modern tech would air-dry these pre-steamed semolina pellets, hence adding hot water is just reconstituting it. It’s nice to serve this rather than the normal plain rice for dinner gatherings. For those who are new to this ingredient, it makes a great conversation piece too.
If you’re asking with one brow twitching, why SPAM SPRINKLES? Well….because I CAN!! Haha! 😛
COUS COUS WITH ROAST VEGES & SPAM SPRINKLES RECIPE
Ingredients;
1 courgette, diced
3 red onions, quartered
Cherry tomatoes, halved
2/3 cup cous cous
Olive Oil
Hot water
Salt
Black Pepper
Parsley
Spam sprinkles;
Spam of your choice, small dices
Oil for shallow frying
Steps;
1. Coat the vegetables in some olive oil, a pinch of salt and pepper. Spread it out in a roasting dish and roast them in a pre-heated oven of 200 degrees Celsius for 15 – 20 mins.
2. Pour your cous cous in a large bowl. Add your hot water that comes up to 1/2 of the cous cous, this depends on how fine or large your cous cous is. If the cous cous is fine, you don’t need so much water. Add a pinch of salt an stir. Let it sit in the bowl covered with cling film for about 15 mins.
3. While all this is going on, prep your sprinkles. Fry them till they’re crisp.
4. When the cous cous is done, fluff them with a fork. Don’t ever use a spoon, it will clump together.
5. Pour your roast veges in another bowl. Add a few spoonfuls of the cous cous. Toss it together. Plate with the sprinkles on top. Eat while warm.
Note; This recipe makes a delicious side to mains too.
Enjoy!