Meals on the go! Couscous & Vegetables (Chinese Market, Birmingham Indoor Market) [By @SpectreUK]

It says "8 minutes and it's ready" on the front of the cup. I was hoping that included boiling time of the kettle, as I can get very hungry when I return from the theatre. I lost hope when I saw the instructions on the back of the pot that told me to add boiling water, stir, curl the metal lid back on the top and then wait for eight minutes. We went to see "The Play That Goes Wrong", which was utterly hilarious. I could swear I almost laughed myself to death. By the interval I was a complete teary mess I had been laughing so hard!

Got back home, popped the kettle on and rather enthusiastically started to peel back the metal lid, which immediately tore. Suddenly I had visions of this being "the cup of hot vegetable couscous that goes wrong!" There was a plastic spoon in the pot, but I opted for a metal one as plastic and boiling water are never good bedfellows. I added boiling water, stirred, and waited the very precise eight minutes. Actually it was more like nine as I was typing notes for this blog at the time. I peeled back the lid and was shocked to find the couscous had soaked up all the liquid leaving a solid mass in the plastic pot. I checked around the kitchen to see if any cupboards had been left open for me to bang my head on and then preceded to the lounge to enjoy my cup of couscous and vegetables, with some toast and crisps on the side. I gave the almost solid couscous a stir. There were many diced bits of carrot, onion and leak amongst the couscous. There was a light spice and vegetable taste, mainly of leek and onion, with the mildest hint of parsley. I found this Meals on the go! Couscous & Vegetables flavoursome, and would definitely have it again as a tasty alternative to a cup of hot noodles.

Information on the plastic cup;
Produced by Osem Foods in Israel. 84g having 115 calories, with 1.5g of fat. No preservatives, no artificial food colouring, natural ingredients only, including; Couscous (79%), onions (4.7%), carrots (3%), celery (1.6%), leeks (1%), Palm oil, yeast extracts, salt, corn maltodextrin, spices, and parsley. Contained gluten, soya and celery, and could contain traces of sesame seeds and eggs.