crunchy couscous

really easy - the only cooking is bunging some hot water on the couscous, though sprouting the moong beans took a couple of days.

Ingredients

1. small cup of couscous
2. 1/2 tsp veg stock powder (optional)
3. about 1/8th red cabbage (or whatever you have lurking in fridge)
4. olive oil
5. 1/2 lemon
6. 1/2 red chilli (or that ready-squished stuff)
7. 1/2 cm ginger (ditto)
8. 2 spring onions
9. 1/2 cup bean sprouts (i sprouted some moong beans, but whatever you can get hold of)
   

Method

• Put the couscous in a bowl and cover with boiling water. If you want tastier couscous (but with more salt), add some veg stock powder. stir and leave to soak.
  
• Meanwhile, chop the cabbage and chilli finely. Grate the ginger and slice up the spring onions.
• Once the couscous is no longer gritty, toss together with the rest of the ingredients, adding more seasoning if required.
  

Quinoa & purple

A wintry salad to stave off hunger and snow

Ingredients

1. quinoa - about 1/2 - 1 cup
2. 1 onion
3. can of mixed beans - or unmixed if you only like one kinda bean. Not baked beans though. Bleurgh.
4. 1/4 red cabbage, roughly chopped
5. jar of piquant peppers (try saying that fast)>
6. oil, lemon juice, chilli, seasoning

Method

• First, toast the quinoa - basically bung it in a dry saucepan over a highish heat stirring frequently so it doesn't burn until it's golden brown and starts to smell (nice). Then add twice the volume of water and simmer for 10 mins until it splits and goes soft.
• While the quinoa is cooking, chop the onion and bung it in the microwave on high for about 5 mins to soften and sweeten it.
• Roughly chop the cabbage and peppers; drain the beans.
• Add all the ingredients together with the quinoa while it's still warm, add oil, lemon juice, chilli and seasoning to taste. Everything will marinade as it cools down ....

This goes well in a winter lunchbox, and as it's not too gloopy it won't leak out the edges of your Underwhelming Tupperware box ....