Slightly stodgy couscous but tastes great to me! (Tesco Cous Cous)

Member Name: xxfoxyredxx

Product:	Tesco Cous Cous
Date:	04/07/09 (144 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Quick and healthy to prepare and goes with so many foods!

Disadvantages: Slightly stodgy and not highly flavoured

When it comes to either cooking or eating healthy I'm positively useless at both of them tasks. Having an eating disorder (I'm trying to combat right now) I usually eat loads of junk food and cook nothing at all. It's very rare indeed you'd see me eating a proper prepared and hot meal and normally I'm the one who's sat eating cake or chocolate etc.

Well all that this week has changed. I have a new fitness regime resulting in a 6 month contract at the gym and a healthy eating plan to boot. No more junk food, no more being ill after eating junk food just plenty of the right foods and general exercise. It's hard work all of it but I'm sure will be beneficial to me in the long run!

So browsing through my local Tesco store the other day I'd normally hit the confectionery and load up. This time however I found myself stocking up on fruits, vegetables, pulses and grains. With burning up about 500 calories (at least in the gym in a session) I need my energy and some natural sugar releasing type of foods. I need foods that help me feel fuller for longer and release energy slowly. So far in one week I'm sick of the sight of brown rice and pasta so when I saw this couscous I grabbed a bag of it to try having never eaten it before.

The Packaging....

500g clear plastic bag and on the front I'm told it's Tesco 'Whole Foods' Couscous and that it contains protein which is essential for the body's growth and repair and is an alternative to pasta or rice. I'm then told the weight (500g in this case) and there is an at a glance nutritional chart. On the back of the packet there is a resealable tab, ingredients, allergy advice and nutritional information is all given (and I'm told it is suitable for Vegetarians) as well as instructions on how to cook it and how to store it, details for Tesco are given as well as the size being stated again, the recycle symbol is shown and finally there is a bar-code on there. Nice simple packaging this is which is informative enough, doesn't look cheap and/or nasty and I do like the resealable tab on the back of the packet for ease of storing.



Cooking It - Serves4....

Put 250 ml (9 fl oz) water into a saucepan. Add 1 x 15 ml (1 tbsp) cooking
oil and heat gently. Add 200g (8 oz) couscous and stir with a wooden spoon.
Cover and remove from the heat for 3 minutes or until the water is nearly
absorbed. Add a knob of butter and salt to taste and return to heat. Cover
gently for 3-4 minutes. Separate grains with a fork before serving.

The Couscous....

Well it cooked up really easily and had a very sort of soggy film to the top of it when cooked but no aroma. I simply rinsed it through and it went firm and slightly soggy but I beat the life out of it to get rid of excess water.

However the taste was nice enough to be fair to it and I'd go as far to say I enjoyed it. It does need seasoning to bring out the natural flavouring which is wheat semolina (as advised on the back of the packet and butter) but I found it to be light on said flavour, could eat it with virtually anything and I found the recommended 50g serving more than enough because it over doubled in size through cooking.

I was left feeling no hunger and fuller for longer and energised. It's a healthy, versatile and clean, fresh tasting food. You can fry off some vegetables add that to it, course add soy sauce, citrus fruit juices and herbs and spices to add more flavour if desired. I had my couscous with grilled chicken and simply added a drizzle of olive oil and pepper to it for a very quick and filling meal. I think it's great but do realise it's an acquired taste!

Nutritional Information....Per 50g Serving....

Calories:185g
Sugar:1.4g
Fat: 0.6g
Saturates: 0.1g
Salt: Trace

Only available in Tesco and this packet cost me 60p and contains 10, 50g servings.

Summary: I like it but realise it's a very plain tasting, stodgy dish