Next semester in Scotland, I will be living in a flat with a full kitchen - a vast improvement from dorm, where I shared an electric tea kettle, a microwave, and a frequently raided fridge with my dorm floor. I have been practicing easy (and healthy) meals to cook in my flat, and here is one of my favorites. It is simple, easy, and delicious.
The couscous is easy to make, and can be replaced with rice, polenta, salad, or anything you want. I usually mix nuts (toasted slivered almonds are my favorite) and dried fruit (golden raisins or sliced dried apricots) into the couscous to add flavor and texture. To make couscous, you need to:
1. Heat olive oil in a pan
2. brown the couscous in the olive oil for a few minutes
3. pour in the water (almost 1:1 for couscous and water - I use 1 cup couscous and 3/4 cup of water for four people)
4. bring the water to a boil, then turn off the stove and cover the pan.
The fish is also easy to make, and here's how:
Ingredients:
-fish fillets (one for each person eating). trout or sole are good fish to use
-1 egg
-flour
-cornmeal
-sage - eyeball the amounts necessary for this and the flour and cornmeal
Directions:
1. Put the flour, cornmeal, and sage, along with salt and pepper to taste, on a plate and mix them together a bit with your hands. Put the egg in a bowl nearby.
2. Heat some olive and a little butter in a pan
3. dip the fish fillets in the egg, role in the flour mixture until there is an even coating on both sides, and lay each one in the pan on the hot oil and butter. Let the fish sit for a few minutes on each side, until the outside is brown, and then turn them over. When the fillets are done cooking, they should be light brown on the outside and the fish should be flaky.
Voila! Your meal is done.