Moroccan style stew with lemon and coriander cous cous

Okay so stew is far from summery but c'mon.. look outside! *cries*

I decided to make a stew as I wanted something warming, cheap and easy for dinner - I also had some harissa paste and ras-al-hanout sitting in my cupboard crying out to be used.. I tend to buy these things then use them once and forget about them. BAD.

This recipe yields four servings.

Ingredients - Stew

• 1 brown onion, finely diced
• 2 carrots, sliced
• 1 courgette, sliced
• 1 red pepper, sliced
• 1 thumb sized piece of ginger, grated
• 5 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
• 3 tbsp harissa paste
• 2 tbsp ras-al-hanout
• 10 baby potatoes, diced
• 1 tin of chickpeas, drained
• Half a cup of red lentils
• 500ml of stock (I used Massel Vegan Chicken Stock), plus extra water as required
• Salt/pepper to taste
• 3 tbsp of tomato puree
• Handful of kale/spinach (optional - I just added for some 'green')
• Juice of half a lemon

Ingredients - Cous cous

• 1 cup of whole wheat cous cous
• Small bunch of coriander, leaves only, chopped
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• Zest of 1 lemon
• Salt to taste

Method

Heat a large saucepan to medium (use oil if you wish - I didn't), add onions and carrots and fry until they are beginning to soften - about 3 minutes. Add courgette and pepper and fry for a further 2 minutes. Finally add ginger and garlic and fry for 1-2 minutes. Add harissa paste and ras-al-hanout, and fry off for a minute. Add potatoes, chickpeas and lentils to pan, give this a good stir. Add stock and tomato puree and stir again - ensure that the potatoes are covered by the stock - if not, add extra! Cover pan and reduce heat to medium-low. Let this simmer until the potatoes are soft and the lentils are cooked, adding extra water if required - about 30 minutes. 

While the stew is simmering, prepare cous cous as per pack instructions. Once ready, add to bowl with lemon zest, coriander and olive oil. Stir then add salt as required. Set aside.

A couple of minutes before removing the stew from heat, add a handful of kale/spinach and juice of half a lemon and stir. Serve with lemon/coriander cous cous prepared earlier - ENJOY.