roasted vegetable couscous

I'm still trying to take full advantage of the fresh summer veggies before they're gone. I paid a little more for vegetables this week than I usually do, but the frightening thought that in a few months good vegetables will be hard to come by at any price motivated me to grab them anyway.

This dish highlights the wonderfully sweet flavor that vegetables take on after being roasted. I only seasoned the vegetables with salt and pepper because I wanted to enjoy the subtle flavor of their caramelized sugars.If you like a little punchier flavor, try adding feta cheese or a sprinkle of balsamic vinegar to this salad. I've tried both and can definitely say it's delish!

If you're using your grill this summer, throw the vegetables on the grill instead of roasting them in the oven to make this recipe even faster.

If you're unfamiliar with couscous, it's basically pasta that is made into little granules. It cooks almost instantly, which is awesome. I used whole wheat couscous for this recipe, which I was able to find in the bulk section at Whole Foods. In regular stores it can be found either in the international aisle or in a box near rice mixes (like rice a roni products).

You can take this recipe in so many directions, so be creative! Eggplant would be awesome, maybe even some edamame? Let me know what you try!




Total Recipe cost: $10.09
Servings Per Recipe: 8
Cost per serving: $1.26
Prep time: 10 min. Cook time: 45 min. Total: 55 min.

INGREDIENTS		COST
1 large	yellow squash	$1.50
1 large	zucchini	$1.33
1 medium	red onion	$1.02
1 medium	red bell pepper	$1.19
1 medium	green bell pepper	$0.79
4 medium	roma tomatoes	$1.18
4 cloves	fresh garlic	$0.28
2 Tbsp	olive oil	$0.22
to taste	salt & pepper	$0.10
1/3 bunch	fresh parsley	$0.25
2 cups	couscous	$1.96
3 cups	vegetable or chicken broth	$0.27
TOTAL		$10.09

STEP 1: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Wash and chop the vegetables into large chunks (bell peppers, squash, tomatoes, onion). Peel four cloves of garlic but leave them whole.

STEP 2: Toss the chopped vegetables and garlic with 2 Tbsp of olive oil. Spread them out on a baking sheet (or two) so that they are in a single layer. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper.

STEP 3: Place the vegetables in the oven and roast at 400 degrees for 45 minutes. If you have two baking sheets on two different racks in the oven, you'll need to switch them half way through to ensure even cooking.

STEP 4: While the vegetables are roasting, cook the couscous. Bring 3 cups of broth up to a boil (or 3 cups of water + 1 Tbsp bouillion, in my case). Once it reaches a rolling boil, pour in 2 cups of couscous, turn off the heat, and cover the pot with a lid. Let sit, undisturbed, for at least five minutes.

STEP 5: After the vegetables are finished roasting, transfer them to a cutting board and roughly chop. Collect the four garlic cloves and chop them well. They are probably so soft that they'll just smoosh, but that's okay. You just want them to be able to distribute throughout the salad.

STEP 6: Roughly chop about 1/3 bunch of parsley. Fluff the couscous with a fork. Combine the couscous, roasted vegetables, and parsley in a bowl and stir to combine. Season with more salt and pepper if desired. Serve warm or cold!

Step By Step Photos

These are the vegetables that I started with. Use whatever you have on hand or whatever is available at a good price!


I almost forgot about the garlic... Grab four good sized cloves, peel them, but leave them whole.


Cut the vegetables into large chunks. Toss the vegetables with olive oil, salt, and pepper. You can do this in a large bowl or right on the baking sheet. Make sure to spread them out to two sheets if necessary (this picture is before I divided them to two sheets). They MUST be in a single layer to roast... otherwise they'll just stew in their own juices and no caramelizing will happen. Sad face. Pop the baking sheet into a preheated 400 degree oven and leave them alone for about 45 minutes.


While the vegetables are roasting, cook the couscous. Bring three cups of broth (vegetable or chicken) up to a rolling boil.


Measure out 2 cups of dry couscous... I just scooped some out of the bulk bins willy nilly and it turned out to be EXACTLY 2 cups. I'm good like that.


Pour the couscous into the rapidly boiling water. Give it one stir - just one go around - then turn off the heat.


Place a lid on top ASAP to trap in all of that valuable steam. Let the couscous drink up the hot broth for at least five minutes. You can let it sit longer if you need.


It will look like this when you open it up... kind of compact.


So, you'll need to fluff it up with a fork.


Go ahead and roughly chop a good handful of fresh parsley.


And then by that time hopefully your vegetables will be done doing their magic. They should be shriveled and kind of brown and crispy on the edges. Transfer them to a cutting board and give them a very rough chop. Just enough to cut down the larger pieces to bite size.


Make sure you grab the whole garlic cloves out of the roasted vegetables and chop/smoosh it down so that it's goodness will spread throughout the salad.


In a large bowl, combine the fluffed couscous, roasted vegetables, and parsley.


Stir everything together, give it a taste, and adjust the seasoning to your liking. Enjoy!


Vegetables are pretty AND delicious!