Back in college, I worked as a cook for a guy running shipwreck diving trips around Isle Royale. From him I learned some of the best meals are the ones where you “throw all the ingredients in a pot and let it cook awhile.” This recipe comes from A Good Day for Soup, by Jeannette Ferrary (Chronicle Books). You can adapt the vegetables and seasonings as it suits you. Does well as a vegetarian dish also (use veggie stock). All hail the lazy cooks!

Ingredients
4 tablespoons oil
2 onions – chopped
4 cloves garlic – minced
1 red bell pepper – seeded and diced
2 teaspoons curry powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1 cup chopped tomatoes
2 carrots – sliced or chopped
1 small butternut squash – peeled, seeded and cut into cubes
1 parsnip – peeled and sliced
2 zucchini – sliced
1 cinnamon stick (about 1 to 2 inches long)
10 cups chicken stock (veggie if you don’t add meat)
2 pounds chicken meat – cut into bite-size pieces
salt and pepper
12 ounces couscous
1/4 cup fresh cilantro – chopped (for garnishing)

Directions
Heat oil over medium-high heat in a large, soup-sized pot.
Saute the onions, garlic and bell pepper until soft, about 5 minutes.
Stir in curry, cumin and turmeric, and cook another minute or so.
Add tomatoes and cook until bubbly.
Stir in the rest of the vegetables and cinnamon stick; cook a few more minutes.
Add stock and bring to a boil.
Reduce heat and simmer, partly covered, for 15 minutes.
Add chicken and simmer another 8 minutes.
Remove cinnamon stick and taste the soup to see how much salt and pepper you want to add (if any).

Couscous
Bring 12 to 16 ounces of water to a boil in a pot. More water makes it more fluffy.
Put the couscous in the pot, put a lid on, and turn off the heat.
Let it sit about 5 minutes.

Place the cooked couscous into bowls and ladle the soup over it.
Sprinkle with cilantro and serve.

Other Information
Serves: 8
This is a good late summer/early autumn soup.

You can put 1 to 2 tablespoons of uncooked couscous in each bowl, and then pour the soup over it. By the time you get it to the table, it will be ready to eat. This is a great way to do leftovers.