I feel sorry for the couscous, it has been tossed aside and is a has been a bit like a one hit wonder, taken over by the new age quinoa… But you know me everything old is new again, all it needs is a bit of sprucing up. And that’s what I did to our old friend couscous. Once you’ve tasted it you will have to agree that this recipe is something else!
The combination of tanginess from the cranberries soaked in orange juice compliments the sweetness of the sweet potato, the crunchy nut goes perfectly with it’s cousin the chickpea and the pomegranate doesn’t just add beauty it adds an enjoyable bite.
Ingredients
1cup couscous
1&1/4 cup chicken stock or vegetable stock
25g butter (if vegan 1 table spoon olive oil)
400g sweet potato diced
1 can chickpeas drained and pat dry with a paper towel
1 small eggplant diced
¼ cup canned lentils, drained of any liquid
Seeds of one pomegranate
1/3 cup dried cranberries
Juice of a small orange
Can of oil spray
2 teaspoons zaatar
½ tablespoon oil
1 teaspoon curry
½ teaspoon turmeric
Salt according to taste
¼ cup of finely cut continental parsley or Basil or Coriander
Hand full pistachio ½ smashed
Hand full mixed seeds
METHOD
Preheat the oven to 180c.
In a small bowl soak cranberries in orange juice and set aside.
Line an oven dish with baking paper and place diced sweet potatoes I don’t use oil when I bake sweet potatoes.
Place dried chickpeas in a bowl and mix in curry, turmeric, salt and ½ tablespoon of oil, add to sweet potato baking dish and cook for approx 25min.
In a separate oven tray, lined with baking paper, scatter diced eggplant, sprinkle zaatar and spray with oil. Bake until cooked through approx 30 min.
In a large saucepan bring stock to boiling point with lid on. When stock has boiled add butter until melted.( or 1table spoon of olive oil ) Turn stove off, add couscous, put lid back on and leave for 5-8 min.
Using a fork separate the couscous grains.
Drain cranberries of the orange Juice and add them to the couscous along with the roasted vegetables and lentils.Mix in fresh herb of your choice, half of the seeds, the nuts and half the pomegranate seeds. Transfer to serving dish and garnish with the other half of nuts, seeds, and pomegranate.
Love,
Nava.
PS - I love hearing from you! Let me know how it went and feel free to spread the word/passion/love, the more the merrier!
