Evening snacking

My housemate asked me the other day what kind of food he could eat late in the evening which wouldn’t be too heavy or expensive but healthy at the same time…and I know he wouldn’t be happy with only fruit or salad… After my lovely evening snack last night I offered him some couscous because these tiny little grains are a perfect accompaniment to meat or fish and can have various ingredients such as spices, lemon, seeds and herbs added to make a really tasty snack or be part of a main meal!

Easy cooking

To make a bowl of couscous is so easy and effortless! In a saucepan, bring water to the boil. Add salt and stir. Add couscous, remove the saucepan from the heat and allow grains to sit for about 5 minutes until the water is absorbed.  Add your own spice mixture.

I love couscous with roast vegetables. Just chop an onion, carrot, courgette and some mushrooms, squeeze a little bit of garlic, add a little bit of olive oil and roast until vegetables are soft and golden. Then mix them up with the couscous and enjoy it!

My delicious dinner

By the time I came back home from the gym last night it was already 8 pm and I wanted to make something quick, fresh and easy to digest.

So I went through my cupboards in the kitchen and found a box of couscous… a little jar of sun dried tomatoes marinated in lovely sunflower oil with aromatic basil, garlic and oregano… 

I love sun dried tomatoes because they are simply delicious and I thought that it should work well with a little bit of couscous… And it did!

The couscous was nice and fluffy and chopped sun dried tomatoes not only made it look nice and colourful but tasty and enjoyable. I didn’t add any extra oil because my tomatoes had it all… silky sunflower oil and spices! The dinner was light but filling and I was happy with my choice! 

Is it healthy?

Couscous is among the healthiest grain-based products. In terms of protein, couscous has 3.6g for every 100 calories, equivalent to pasta, and well above the 2.6g for every 100 calories of white rice. Furthermore, couscous contains a 1% fat-to-calorie ratio, compared to 3% for white rice, 5% for pasta, and 11.3% for rice pilaf.(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Couscous)

Couscous is a low fat food and on average only contains approximately 112 calories per serving for a plain variety but this is before adding any butter or oil!