Someone asked me, “What is that special thing you add to food?”

I smiled and said, “The secret ingredient is love.”

Preparing food for someone is purely a significant act of love. Food and love are inextricable.

While love is definitely a super ingredient that nourishes the soul, it is nutrition that needs to be taken care of. There are six categories of nutrients that the body needs to acquire from food viz. proteins, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins and minerals, fiber and water. Nutrition is the need of the hour. With so much of food adulteration, sticking to a healthy diet is all we can do. A palatable balanced meal is what we are going to discuss today.

We will prepare this recipe in three different parts:

1. Couscous
2. Tangy Tomato Sauce
3. Sauté Vegetables

1. For Couscous

Ingredients

• ½ cup Couscous
• Salt to taste
• 1 cup vegetable stalk (boiling hot)

Method

• Take couscous in a bowl, add salt and mix well.
• Then pour boiling hot vegetable stalk to it.
• Cover it with lid for 5 minutes, mix with fork.
• Keep it aside to soften.

Note: You don’t have to cook it on flame. Couscous is tender enough to soften in hot water.

2. Tangy Tomato Sauce

Ingredients

• 1 tsp olive oil
• 4 tomatoes
• Salt and pepper
• 1 tsp garlic paste
• 1 tsp honey
• 1 tsp ketchup
• Oregano and chilli flakes

Method

• Put oil in pan.
• When oil is warm enough, add vegetables to it.
• Stir for 5 minutes at high flame.*
• Add salt, oregano and chilli flakes.
• Stir for a minute and turn off the gas.

*Do not overcook vegetables. Let them remain crunchy.

After all the things are ready, it is time to plate them together.

• Put couscous in a bowl. Press it evenly with a spoon.
• Turn the bowl over a plate till couscous settles on the plate.
• On one side, put the sauté vegetables and on another side tangy tomato sauce.

That’s it. Simple.

Shradha Mehra

mehra.shradha@ymail.com