Ratatouille

I'm about as good at eating my vegetables as I am at updating this blog: sometimes, I'm all about making sure I get my 5 a day, and sometimes I sort of... forget.

It's a lot easier now it's heading towards summer and the idea of salad is particularly appealing, but last week my friend Ellen cooked for me in a bid to get shot of her vegetables before she went off for her weekend in Paris (lucky thing). It was based off a Turkish dish, but essentially what it amounted to was ratatouille with chorizo and couscous, and it was delicious. As I was doing my food shop this week, I thought to myself, why not make that? It's quick, it's simple, it's cheap, and it's delicious. Basically, it's everything I want when I'm cooking. Plus, it's easy to make extra so you have another meal or two already made!

So make it I did. There are probably as many different recipes for ratatouille as there are people who eat it, but this is how I made it.

1. Chop up a red pepper, an aubergine, a courgette, half a large onion and two cloves of garlic, and add to a big saucepan (a casserole-style pot would be perfect).
2. Heat this for about five minutes on the hob - this helps to soften the aubergine and courgette, and makes space for the next step!
3. Add a tin of chopped tomatoes, a little bit of water and bring to the boil, then put a lid over it and let simmer for another 5-10 minutes.
4. For the meat-eaters, whilst the ratatouille is simmering away, chop up some chorizo into rounds (the ready-cooked type), and heat in a frying pan. Once it's golden and slightly softened, tip into the pan and stir through - try to get as much of the oil that comes out of the sausages into the ratatouille for an added paprika kick.

And that's it! I'd reckon that will make between 3 and 4 portions' worth (not including the chorizo), depending on how hungry you are. The last thing to do is to make the couscous, which is perhaps the easiest thing ever, particularly when you do it my way. I know you can make it on the hob but this is much easier.

1. Take a mug.
2. Boil the kettle.
3. Fill your mug with as much or as little couscous as you want.
4. Pour boiling water over the couscous - the optimum amount is so that the water level is just a fraction over the couscous. Too much and it'll be watery, too little and it'll be dry.
5. Put a lid over the mug to trap the steam.
6. Take the lid off after about 2 minutes and fluff up with a fork.
7. Add butter if wanted.

Couscous added to ratatouille is perfect as it soaks up all that yummy liquid, and some salad because... well because why not?

Possibly the healthiest meal I've eaten since I got here - the only 'naughty' bits would be the sausages, the tiny bit of butter I added to the couscous and the dressing on the salad. And, I've got leftovers that will do for later in the week.

Bon appetit!