(A)daptation

Decided it was time to have an "A" meal tonight and remembered a recipe with (A)ubergine and (A)pricots that we hadn't had for quite a while.I found it in "Good Housekeeping September 2003"

Moroccan Ragout
1tbsp olive oil
1 onion finely chopped
1 garlic clove
1tbsp harissa paste
2 medium courgettes roughly chopped
2 red peppers, deseeded & sliced
1 small aubergine diced
400g can chopped tomatoes
410g chick peas, drained & rinsed
125g(4oz) ready-to-ear dried apricots, roughly chopped
3tbsp roughly chopped basil leaves & a few sprigs as garnish

For the Couscous
300ml (1/2pt) couscous
300ml (1/2pt) hot vegetable stock
2tbsp freshly chopped coriander



1) heat oil in a large pan, add onion & garlic & cook over a medium heat for 10min till soft. Stir in harissa paste & cook for a further 2 min
2) Add courgettes,peppers & aubergine to the pan & cook for 5min. Stir in the tomatoes,rinse the can with 200ml(7fl.oz) water & add to pan. Season well if you think it needs it.
3) cover pan with a lid & bring to boil. Reduce heat & simmer 25min.until the vegetables are nearly tender. Add the chickpeas & apricots & heat through for 5-10min. Stir in Basil leaves& serve.
4) Meanwhile prepare the couscous. Pour into a large bowl. Add the hot stock & leave to soak for 15min. Add coriander, fluff up with a fork & season if necessary

I thought I had checked that I had everything I needed & chopped the onion etc & started the cooking. While the onion & garlic were softening I got the aubergine & courgette from the freezer. Great - insufficient courgettes. I never think of myself as someone who can easily (A)dapt a recipe but tonight I had to ( this was only the start lol!) No red peppers but plenty of frozen yellow pepper, decided cucumber would be ok as a substitute for courgette to make up the short fall.Then I found out we had no Apricots. Nightmare!! Much scratching of head & eventually remembered I had a sachet of mixed fruit in the freezer (for making smoothies )It was pineapple, mango & papaya.

I'm glad to say that the finished meal was still very tasty but I would really recommend the original dish rather than my cobbled together (a)lternative However I have learnt something today from my potential disaster and I think that is what this challenge is all about!