What good things can I do with couscous? 12 yr old fussy eating vegetarian daughter who doesn't like many veg!

[shadypines]

She likes a 'limited' amount of vegetables so mealtimes are sometimes a PITA. However during a recent school cookery lesson she stated she LOVED couscous and as I have never cooked with this I was wondering what I can do with it. Do you eat it plain or have things with it? Any ideas really appreciated.

You'd probably best check with her what they did with it!
I tend to have it plain as if it was something like rice, but serve it with something like ratatouille and sausages!
But you can also mix all kinds of things like peppers and onions through it. Or add spices etc.

ok thanks for that Amum

i do it a couple of ways- plain with some sort of sauce - e g tomato. It makes a nice side dish if you add fried onions/ peas / sweetcorn /chopped herbs and maybe chickpeas to make it more a main course- i usually cook it in water with a bit of vegetable stock cube in it to add a bit of flavour - you could also use garlic flavoured olive oil or a bit of butter

I used to get some shelled hemp hearts from the health food shop. They are very nutritious. They are not strong tasting a bit nutty. They mix into couscous really well and hardly show.

I add some cinnamon, veg stock powder (the Marigold stuff) dried fruits and pine nuts and serve with ratatouille or a tomato sauce with eggs dropped in it and poached, I suppose. I usually add meatballs to that though but you could have with falafel.

YY to making it with stock, also add some feta chunks or haloumi (fried grilled) and mix in. Serve with roasted veggies cut into bit sized bits such as courgettes, onions, tomatoes, peppers and a dressing of tomato puree with lemon juice, olive oil and ground cumin, add some soft leaves and sprinkle with nigella seeds. My son who "hates veg" loves this meal.

It is a version of Delia's roasted summer veg with cous cous. (I take no credit).

wow!these sound lovely thanks everyone

I usually make the couscous up with a little Marigold stock powder and maybe a drizzle of olive oil or little knob of butter.

Then to go with it I have a lot of variations on the theme of roasted veg + chickpeas + interesting herbs/spices + couscous.

Chickpea salad with aubergines obviously leave out the ham! Delicious spooned over plain couscous.

Ottolenghi ultimate winter couscous

I make this with couscous instead of bulghar wheat and it's gorgeous.

I also serve this with couscous

I made this veggie tagine tonight - pretty low effort and very tasty. I did add chickpeas though as there's no real protein otherwise.

I'd do a search on the BBC Good Food website for more ideas.

Ooh and H F-W has an amazing recipe in the River Cottage Veg Every Day book. recipe here

thanks so much soul I will take a look and try!