Another simple dinner

It may not look all that great in the picture (no wonder food stylists get paid a good rate), but this dinner of plaice with a side of couscous and veg tasted pretty scrummy.

The plaice itself was well seasoned and then simply grilled, but it was the couscous and veg that made it special. I cut a couple of courgettes into chunks (quartering the courgettes lengthwise, then chopping them into 1cm-thick bits) and sauteed them in a sparing drizzle of olive oil.

While I was doing that, I also toasted some pine nuts in a dry frying pan (they've got some oil all of their own, so don't need any extra fat) and poured some boiling water over a small bowl of couscous then put a lid over it to let it swell up in the steam (with a stick of cinnamon in along with the couscous to add a bit more flavour).

I then got four or five pickled lemons (an ingredient traditionally used in Moroccan cookery and available in most supermarkets), sliced them into quarters lengthways, removed the pulp and roughly chopped the skins into large dice.

Once the couscous had absorbed the water and was completely tender, I stirred in the sauteed courgettes, the pine nuts, the pickled lemons and a good handful of chopped fresh coriander and a twist of black pepper. Very simple, but very good indeed.