what's for dinner - couscous

wander into the kitchen, bleary-eyed from a day at the computer, and more than a little shocked that it's already 5:45. pour self glass of cold white wine. take a sip. open refrigerator to see what's there. clear out the crisper. put carrots, half a zucchini (left over from yesterday's pizza), half a cabbage (left over from saturday's stir fry), a handful of green beans, half a box of mushrooms and an onion on the counter. check the cupboard, see if there's some couscous left in that box. there is. breathe sigh of relief. take another sip of wine.

set kettle to boil, pour boiling water over one bouillon cube (flavor of your choice - i used beef, tho' to keep this dish vegetarian, you can use a veggie one). meanwhile, put a cup of couscous into a shallow bowl, then pour the bouillon over it and place a plate over the top of the bowl and leave it to soak in. meanwhile, chop all of the assorted veggies you found in the fridge. start by tossing diced onions into pan and sweat them off in a good glug of olive oil. add a grated carrot and grated zucchini (courgette), then chopped mushrooms, then some chopped cabbage and green beans cut into bite-size. sauté them until they're done just enough - it's ok if the beans are still slightly crunchy. you can cover with a lid for a couple of minutes while you have a well-deserved sip of wine, but don't let them lose their bright color. and don't forget to season with salt & pepper.

toast off some hazelnuts or almonds or pine nuts - whatever you've got. chop a handful of dried apricots (or dates) for a little element of sweetness. toss it all together with the couscous (which you've fluffed with a fork), stir it together, take another sip of wine and call the family for dinner.  if you're lucky, there might be just enough left for you for lunch tomorrow.

this is a vegetarian dish, but if you had some leftover meat from another meal, you could toss that in, but the dish doesn't need meat.