Roasted Vegetable Pearl Couscous Salad

This salad is delicious on its own, or as a side dish to fish, lamb shoulder or brisket! And is a great way to use up any sad veggies at the end of the week. It can be made vegetarian if you omit the bone broth – however if you do want to use bone broth, this is a great meal to incorporate it as the couscous absorbs it all up. If you don’t have pearl couscous you can swap it for a regular couscous, amaranth, buckwheat or rice.

Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 4 cups vegetables of choice peeled and roughly chopped into 2 cm chunks (pumpkin, sweet potato, eggplant, zucchini, beetroot work well here)
• 1 red onion roughly chopped
• 2 cloves garlic whole, skin on
• 1 lemon halved
• extra-virgin olive oil to drizzle
• 1 pinch sea salt and black pepper
• 2 cups Israeli pearl couscous
• 2 cups bone broth, vegetable stock or water
• 1/2 cup feta or goats cheese crumbled
• 1/4 cup barberries or currants see notes
• 1/2 cup pistachios see notes
• 1-2 tsp preserved lemon thinly sliced (optional)
• 1/4 cup flat leaf parsley finely chopped
• 1/8 cup coriander finely chopped
• 1/8 cup mint finely chopped

Yoghurt Dressing

• 1/2 cup Greek Yoghurt plain, full-fat
• 2 tsp lemon juice 1/2 lemon
• 1 tsp cumin powder

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C fan-forced. Line a large baking tray with baking paper
2. Place vegetables of choice, red onion, garlic and lemon halves onto the baking tray, drizzle with olive oil and season with a good few pinches of salt and pepper. Place into the oven and bake for 30-45 minutes, until veggies are cooked through and caramelised.
3. When the vegetables have 20 minutes left, place the pearl couscous and broth (stock or water) into a medium sized saucepan, with a lid on half ajar. Place over low-medium heat and gently simmer for 8-10 minutes, until liquid is absorbed. Once cooked, remove from the heat and place the lid on and allow to sit, undisturbed for 5-10 minutes.
4. In a small bowl, combine the yoghurt ingredients and stir to combine, set aside
5. In a large serving bowl, add the cooked vegetables, pearl couscous, currants or barberries, pistachios, feta and preserved lemon (if using). Using tongs, squeeze the roasted lemon and garlic cloves into the mixture, toss gently to combine
6. Sprinkle with the parsley/mint/coriander and serve with the Yoghurt Dressing dolloped on top.

Luka McCabe is the founder of Boob To Food, an online community dedicated to nurturing a baby’s journey to food. Luka is a midwife, nurse, birth & parenting educator, certified nutrition consultant and author of the best-selling starting solids book, Milk to Meals. Luka is passionate about helping parents nourish themselves and their kids through a holistic approach to eating, with a focus on whole foods. 

More:

• Gut-Loving Dahl
• Slow-Cooked Pulled Pork
• Banana, Raspberry & Dark Chocolate Muffins