A quick dinner for one

On Tuesdays the Girlfriend has rehearsals and I have dance practice, so as of this week it's just me, home alone, with under an hour to cook, eat, change, and waste time on the internet. To start off, I thought I would ressurect a dish that got me through 5 years of University, and which remains a sort of injoke amongst my long suffering housemates - Cuscus Surprise.

Let me explain. My family went gluten free when I was 12, prior to which I think I had only encountered cuscus as 'that weird thing with raisins in.' It wasn't a part of my childhood, or my teenage years, and I think I only really encountered it when the local Sainsbury's had sold out of pasta.

I worked out cheesy veggy pasta (food of kings) fairly quickly once I got to Uni- cheap, easy, ticked off the three main food groups- but I rapidly got bored of Sainsburys Basics penne. So once I learned that cuscus could take the pasta's place as the base, fill you up quick, prime ingredient, a world of doors opened.

The glory of Cuscus Surprise is that anything can be mixed with the cuscus. Sausage and apple? Check. Stilton and beetroot? Check. The sky is pretty much the limit. And given how quick it is to make, it's also a great base for leftovers.


15 minute Pre-dance Cuscus Suprise:

I filled a bowl with enough cuscus for one serving (I am terrible with measurments, so I suggest you look this up) and filled with boiling water to just over the cuscus level. I put this aside to rest.

I put a bowl of frozen peas in the microwave and cooked them, and set aside.

I fried together half a red onion, a clove of garlic, and some rosemary, in rather too much olive oil until the onions were soft and sweet to taste.

I grated a handfiul of chedder cheese.

Once the cuscus had absorbed all the water, I mixed in a hunk of butter and some salt and pepper, and then simply stirred in all the other ingredients. And voila! A veggy-filled, tasty, unusual dinner, ready to be eaten with a healthy dose of internet and some tea. Total time from walking in the door (including petting the cat and avoiding the neighbours) to eating? 15 minutes.