Quick Summer supper, with a touch of Eastern promise

 Sometimes in the Summer it's much better to make couscous than having to boil up pans of hot water for rice or pasta dishes, so I sneak it into my repertoire. The couscous can be put on the table with some other dishes and your evening meal turns into a buffet. When I make couscous I think of my trip to Jericho where I bought a huge tub of saffron and added it to my dishes all the time, a bit like the Coldplay song, everything I made turned yellow. That's because I was told it was good for you.

It's funny isn't it when we're told something is a super food we all rush out and buy it. Apparently the sale of beetroot has soared in just a few days since it was decided it has special powers.

Now I'm not sure about the difference between turmeric and saffron and then again curcuma but they all go well in couscous. Today I used turmeric because I bought it at an Arab market and the aroma feels so full of Eastern promise, and it reminds me of Jericho and the nice people I met there.

Couscous with courgettes, smoked salmon and pine nuts.

Serves 4

1 glass of couscous, about 200g
1 glass of water,
6 courgettes, washed and sliced into chunks
a handful of pine nuts, lightly toasted
200g smoked salmon cut into strips
salt and pepper
olive oil
a pinch of turmeric


Bring the water to the boil, sprinkle with salt and olive oil, turn off the heat.
Add the couscous and stir the cover the saucepan and leave for a few minutes.
Remove the lid, turn the heat on low, add a knob of butter and stir until the butter is melted and the couscous nice and fluffy. Add the turmeric and stir.
Cook the courgettes in a little oil until golden and add to the couscous.
Add the smoked salmon and pine nuts and mix gently.

This goes well with green salad. I had a lovely melon so put some port in my husband's half to compensate for the couscous.

Turmeric comes from the French terre mérite, the Latin terra merita which means deserving earth.

Just a few ingredients so make sure you season well to get a good flavour

gently cook the courgettes until they turn golden

Put the turmeric in the centre of the couscous so it cooks gently in the heat

Three of you five a day here already