Archive for March, 2009
Friday Feast: Couscous Stuffed Capsicums
You may all remember my original Stuffed Capsicums post and think I’m maybe a little obsessed. I’m not actually (promise!), but this dish is related!
Once upon a time, the day after Yankee Elv had made some of the original Stuffed Capsicums, she used the leftovers from that dish and some leftover couscous that we ate as a side to make a tasty couscous dish. We thought it was super yummy and would be a great stuffing for capsicums, so Yankee Elv gave it a try, and lo and behold, it was indeed yummy!
Items of note:
The couscous, if there’s any leftover that doesn’t get stuffed into the capsicums, is yummy all on it’s own.
Roasted garlic is best, but regular garlic (fresh or minced from a jar) is also fine.
The capsicums (for stuffing) should be hollowed out by chopping the top off, removing the inner seed-y bit, and washing. (This is unlike the other stuffed capsicums, that get chopped in half from top to bottom).
Couscous Stuffed Capsicums
Ingredients:
3/4 cup couscous
1/2 capsicum, seeds removed (for roasting – alternatively, buy roasted red capsicum from the deli or in a jar)
2 – 3 cloves fresh garlic (1/2 tsp garlic if using minced from a jar)
2 capsicums, stem and seeds removed (for stuffing)
3 celery ribs, chopped
celery leaves, chopped (use the celery leaves from the tops of the 3 celery ribs)
1 medium onion, diced
1 small zucchini, diced
2 small tomatoes, diced
2 tsps capers (optional)
salt
pepper
2 -3 tsps liquid vege stock (if couscous dries out, add more)
olive oil
1/2 – 1 tab butter (optional)
Method:
1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees C (360 degrees F).
2. Rub capsicum you’re roasting all over with olive oil. Place in baking dish (glass pyrex dish is best) and bake for 35 – 60 mins, or until soft. If you’re roasting fresh garlic, add this as well (in slices inside the capsicum to prevent burning).
3. Once capsicum is done, remove from oven and allow to cool. Chop finely after capsicum is cool.
4. Cook couscous according to package instructions. Set aside.
5. Rub capsicums for stuffing with olive oil and place in baking dish (glass pyrex is best) and bake for 25 – 40 mins, or until somewhat soft (but still firm enough to hold shape).
6. While capsicums for stuffing are cooking, make the couscous mixture.
7. Melt butter in a large pan. Add olive oil and heat.
8. Add onions, garlic and celery to pan. Cook well.
9. Add roasted capsicum, tomatoes and zucchini to pan. Cook.
10. Add celery leaves and couscous to pan. Combine well.
11. Add capers, salt, pepper and vege stock to pan. Combine and cook until flavour infuses couscous.
12. Remove couscous mixture from heat and the capsicums for stuffing from the oven (if not done already).
13. Stuff capsicums with couscous mixture.
14. Place stuffed capsicums in a baking dish (glass pyrex is best). and bake for 25 mins or until couscous is slightly crunchy on top and capsicums are juuuuuuuust starting to lose their shape.
Reuse: Books
I like to read. I don’t get much time to do it these days what with work bending me over, but I miss it, and I read when I can. I usually have a couple of books on the go – one non-fiction, at least one fiction, and an old favourite that I can read in bed and put down easily (if my book is too interesting, I’ll get insomnia). I also usually have a fanfic on the go and read blogs like a crazy lady. Yeah, I like to read, ok?
Read green!
Keeping up with the reading habit sustainably isn’t that much of a challenge either. Yes, books are made of paper – which means deforestation. But I’ve been getting around buying new books for years (mostly cos I couldn’t afford them, but lately the environment has been factoring into my avoidance of new books too). Here’s how.
Go to the library. There’s more books than you could ever want or fit in your house, and you can ‘try before you buy’, so to speak. If you hate it, that’s ok – it’s going back in two weeks anyway. If you live in a city, like me, you’re extra lucky, because often the council will run all the libraries in all the suburbs under one umbrella. If your local library doesn’t have the book you want, you can order it in from another library – usually free or for a nominal fee. Look out for the late fees though!
Go to the second-hand bookshop. This is especially useful when buying text books that you’re not planning on reading again after semester is over. You pay for what you get – the better the condition of the book, the more expensive. They’re usually cheaper than new, and just think – you’ve not chopped down another tree just to read! Book fairs are also good – think Lifeline Bookfest. Tonnes of cheap, pre-used books!
Swap and share books. We always have books at our place that don’t belong to us, and some of our books are always out with our friends and family. Again, this originally was a financial consideration for me – if my best mate already had the book, why would I go out and buy it when I could read her copy? It ends up being as good for the environment as it is for my pocket.
Get free books from Freecycle. There are always people giving books away. Sometimes friends, family and other folks are giving books away too. Pick them up where you can.
Buy second-hand books online – you can get local books from ebay, and Amazon if you’re in one of the local countries (which is not Australia). You can also buy books from eco-friendly book vendors, like Better World Books.
Read ebooks. I haven’t done much of this, but I do have Adobe Digital Editions on my work computer to read the ‘inspirational’ ebook the company gave us as a Christmas present. (They only started with the environmentally friendly book giving last year – before that it was mass hardcover book buying. I bet the authors who wrote the books chosen as the present book each year had a massive boost in sales and probably hate us all now). If you really want that paper look (rather than the backlit monitor look), try a Kindle. Apparently they’re good. Personally I’d go a Netbook, but I’m not bothered by the backlight.
Read online. It doesn’t have to be stuff written by well-known authors, there’s plenty of good amateur fiction and non-fiction out there. You’re reading some now – a blog. There are millions of them. Fanfic is a another big winner, in just about any fandom you choose, and often branching off into original stories. Besides, reading online opens up the doors to what you can find to read. It might be hard to find a good lesbian crime novel in your local second-hand bookshop (who am I kidding, lesbian crime novels are a dime a dozen – maybe it’d be hard to find a good lesbian historical fic that isn’t Mills & Boon-esque), but online, it’s not that hard, and you can narrow it down even further based on the kinds of characters you’d like to read about. Heck, you can even write it. Don’t forget other kinds of reading too – news sites and websites with articles discussing niche areas you’re interested in, which often become less niche the more popular online reading becomes. (Think Afterellen.com, folks!)
So seriously… reading. It’s a pretty awesome thing. Your kids see you doing it and they’re more likely to do it. It keeps your brain active. It’s escapist, and sometimes, trust me, you need to get your brain out of your head and into a story. Don’t stop reading, don’t reduce it. Don’t think that reading sustainably is going to curtail your habit. If anything, it will broaden your literacy horizons. So remember, next time you’re looking for a book – read green!
Reduce: Shower Time – Addendum
A couple of weeks ago I wrote a post about reducing your shower time to avoid wasting water. One of the points I made was about putting a bucket in the shower (shown below).
Put a bucket in the shower to catch the water that comes out while it’s heating up. Just take the bucket out once the water is warm. You can use the water on your garden, or for any other purpose that takes your fancy. My friend’s cat used to drink out of her bucket!
Of course, then there were calls for photos, so here they are.
Jho's cat drinks from the shower bucket
Jho's cat looks very pleased with her new water bowl
Don’t you think the bucket in the shower is a good idea? Kitty sure does!
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