In Morocco, couscous is cooked in its own special double-layered pot, with the essence of the stew cooking underneath seasoning the couscous above. Here in the United States, couscous tends to be cooked separately. Today's recipe is a less-involved version of couscous topped with a simple, chunky tomato, zucchini, onion and chickpea stew.

Ingredients:
1 10-ounce box of couscous
1 medium onion
1 medium zucchini
2 ripe tomatoes
1 15-ounce can of chickpeas
Couple cloves of garlic
1 tsp of curry powder
Chicken stock or vegetable stock
Olive oil
Fresh cilantro or mint
Salt to taste

Procedure:
Add a generous 1 tsp of curry powder to the 10-ounce box of quick-cooking couscous and get it going on the stove top, according to directions.

Put a splash of olive oil into a large, heavy-bottomed pot and then add 1 medium rough-chopped onion and cook it until it softens up a little bit.

After 3-4 minutes, add a couple of medium-sized, rough-chopped zucchini and a couple of minced cloves of garlic. Add a splash of chicken or vegetable stock, or even water, turn the heat down a bit and put a lid on top.

Let the zucchini cook along for about five minutes or so, until it softens up a bit but not too much. Add two rough-chopped ripe tomatoes and one well-drained and rinsed 15-ounce can of chickpeas. Obviously, the longer the vegetables are cooked, the the softer they will be, but I like them to have a little texture.

A little curry powder can be sprinkled on the mix to help tie it to the curry in the couscous. Salt the stew to taste and serve.

Use a fork to fluff the couscous up a bit before adding it to a bowl topped with some of the stew.

Feel free to finish with a sprinkling of fresh-chopped cilantro or mint.