Turkish Vegetable Stew with Israeli Cous-Cous

sorry it's so dark! bad kitchen lighting at 8pm.

I'm so money sometimes, I don't even know it. I was fretful that we didn't have anything planned for dinner because I had forgotten to defrost the meat, but then I saw the eggplant in the fridge and remembered I had one more recipe stashed away for a meatless night. Yay!

I'm not quite sure what is Turkish about this vegetable stew, but it is mighty tasty. It took about 30 minutes from start to finish, so it's an easy throw-together for a hurried night. Our HD box came in yesterday and after dragging Alex away from it to get to the gym, it was all I could do to get him to stop playing with the channels and help chop vegetables. I must admit, though, watching the movie Speed Racer in HD is certainly an experience!

This recipe is light but filling, especially with the cous-cous. Israeli cous-cous is larger than normal, almost pea-sized. I was apprehensive about some of the herbs (dill and cumin? together?) but went along with it anyways. It makes plenty, enough for us to each have two servings and then take some for our lunches today. I imagine it will be even better after sitting for a night and marinating!

Ingredients:
1 cup uncooked couscous, Israeli or toasted variety
1 TBS olive oil, divided
1 medium raw eggplant, cut into 1-inch chunks
2 medium zucchini, cut in half lengthwise and then sliced into 1/2-inch-thick pieces
1 medium yellow pepper, cut in 1-inch chunks
15 oz canned garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
14 1/2 oz canned tomatoes, diced, with roasted garlic
1/2 cup water
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp table salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 cup scallions, sliced
1/3 cup dill, fresh, chopped (I used a few tsp of dried)
1/2 cup crumbled fat-free feta cheese (or goat cheese)

Instructions:
Make cous-cous according to package instructions. When it's finished, stir in 1 tsp of the oil.
Meanwhile, heat remaining 2 teaspoons of oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the eggplant; cook, stirring often, until lightly browned, about 3 minutes. Add the zucchini and yellow pepper; cook, stirring often, until vegetables are crisp-tender, about 5 minutes.
Stir in garbanzo beans, tomatoes, water, cumin, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil; reduce heat to low and simmer until vegetables are tender, about 5-8 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in scallions and dill.
To serve, spoon a scant 3/4 cup of couscous onto each of 4 serving plates or bowls and top each with 1 1/2 cups of stew. Sprinkle each with 2 tablespoons of cheese and serve. (leave off the cheese if you want to keep it parve).