Bite-size piece with aubergine, courgette and green asparagus

ingredients

300 g wholemeal piece-couscous 2 pcs shallots 3 cloves garlic 1 pcs small eggplant 1 pcs small zucchini parsley (or chives) 1 tsp ground turmeric olive oil salt ground romaine cumin green asparagus

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This tempting-looking, simple and very hearty recipe originated in the Dolomites. In the charming kitchen of a rented apartment where everything was romantic, even the rickety wooden gate to the garden still had its charm. Bringing Vegetable Recipes to Italy may have been like walking into the woods with firewood, but just before we left, our perma-garden was fully stocked with zucchini, eggplant. You know, you don’t leave it at home. Eggplants were so “minipidi” for me, there were an awful lot of them. They couldn’t be stuffed with anything, but sliced like this into risotto or chunk- chunk they tasted really unassuming (for the kids). For this recipe I used whole wheat cous-cous. The olive oil smelled of the homeland – Italy. The tourist grocery in Selva had a really great selection of ovozel. In May, getting to the green asparagus was no problem even this high up in the mountains. My husband was training for the bike race of a lifetime (HERO), so the meals had to be easy to digest, full of nutrients, and ones that our then 2.5 year old daughter would enjoy. I often used ground turmeric back then, it was cold at night and the warm sun was shining during the day. To keep us healthy, as turmeric is an excellent immunity support. I assume you will be able to swap ingredients for this recipe as needed and to taste.

1.

Every time I make a piece- piece, I put the grains in a large bowl, cover it with boiled water and let it soak for a minute. I stir, the water is absorbed completely and I progressively top up when the piece- piece is not soft (al dente). Then I toss it with salt, a little olive oil and chopped herbs. That way I can take any of it out at any time and it’s already great. A tip might be to add more sesame oil, it makes such a warm, full flavor.

2.

In a pan, saute the onion chopped into small pieces. Just until golden. Add chopped eggplant, zucchini and garlic, saute until eggplant is soft.

3.

Then add chopped green asparagus (does not need to be cleaned like white). Reheat, asparagus is great uncooked as well.

4.

To this mixture, take a piece-piece, add olive oil, ground turmeric and mix.

5.

TIP: if you like crunchy food, add a handful of seeds and seeds (sunflower, pumpkin, sesame, pine nuts, pistachios…)

6.

Let this simple dish taste as good to you as it does to us.