Curried Roast Vegetable Couscous

Roasting seems to be the cooking method of choice for vegetables lately in our flat. Yesterday, I cut a head of broccoli into little florets, tossed them with oil and roasted them at a high heat; after their edges went all brown and crispy, they were tossed into rice cooked with plenty of garlic and oyster sauce. Yum. Sure the roasting broccoli reeked of fart about halfway through cooking but I pressed on and the smell disappeared as the florets browned.

But this recipe I knocked together last week won’t stink out your flat. It will instead scent it with the sweetness from roasting onions and peppers and the spice from curry powder (a jar I was gifted that needed using up) and garam masala. All good, not like fart. And couscous is such an excellent lazy person’s carbohydrate; ever since I discovered that you can get away with just pouring over boiling water rather than steaming the grains, well, I was all over it (apparently this is because the couscous sold here has been pre-steamed). Again, this dish makes for a lovely light dinner and keeps extremely well for a packed lunch the next day too.

Oh yeah, and blah blah healthy blah blah packed lunch blah blah new year’s resolution.

Curried Roast Vegetable Couscous
serves 2.

1 red pepper
1 yellow pepper
1 courgette
1 aubergine
1 red onion
(or any other vegetables that are suitable for roasting)
2 tbsps olive oil

1 cup of dry couscous
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp hot curry powder (or chilli powder, to taste)
1 tsp garam masala
salt
a few sprigs of fresh coriander

Preheat your oven to 200C.

Deseed the peppers and cut into medium sized chunks. Cut the aubergine into medium sized cubes and the courgette into similar sized chunks too. Quarter the onion and then sliced thinly. Toss all the vegetables into a roasting pan and drizzle over the olive oil. Toss together and roast in the oven for about 30 minutes – or until the vegetables are all roasted to your liking.

In a large bowl, mix together the dry couscous, teaspoon of olive oil, curry powder, garam masala and a good shake of salt. Pour in one cup of boiling water (same volume as of dry couscous – but refer to your box of couscous if necessary), give it all a good stir, cover and let sit for 10 minutes. After the 10 minutes has elapsed, flake it with a fork until it’s all fluffy.

When the vegetables are roasted to your liking, toss them in with the couscous. Chop the fresh coriander and throw that in too. Mix well and serve.

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