Angela’s Awesome Couscous

I thought I had the scoop on couscous , until some months ago I tasted Angela’s summery, flavourful, delicious and healthy dish.

It had substance from the salad leaves, the oven roasted veggies and the grain, it had style from the crunch of the walnuts the tang of the feta and the sweetness of the grapes, and spunk from the delicious dressing that pulled everything together!

Enough said….my old couscous recipe has folded it’s tents and silently stolen away.*

Here is Angela’s recipe, inspired by Delia Smith. The only changes I’ve made are that I use veggies that I like (no eggplant), and locally available stuff.

Ingredients:

For the roasted veggies:

2 Zucchini, cut into circles, then quartered
1 Red pepper, cubed
1 Yellow pepper, cubed
1 Green pepper, cubed
1 cup Cherry tomatoes, red and yellow, halved
3 tsps vegetable oil
1 clove garlic, crushed
Crushed black pepper, to taste
1/2 tsp coarse grained salt

1 cup of couscous
2 cups water
1 tbsp oil
Salt and pepper to taste

To serve:

Mixed Salad leaves
1 Japanese cucumber, thinly sliced and cut into semicircles
10-12 Cherry tomatoes, quartered
10-12 red grapes, quartered
1/2 cup walnuts, toasted
1 package (200g) Feta cheese, cubed

Dressing:

3 tbsps olive oil
3 tbsps lemon juice
1/2 tsp chilli flakes
2 tsps brown sugar
2 tsps toasted sesame seeds (optional)

Method:

Several hours prior to assembling the couscous:

Boil 2 cups of water with oil, salt and pepper.
Pour in the couscous, stir, then turn off the heat and cover the pan.
After 10 minutes, gently stir with a fork to separate the grains.
Once cold, refrigerate the couscous.

Preheat oven to 200*C. line a tray with foil/ baking parchment.
Toss the prepared veggies in the oil and garlic. Sprinkle on the pepper and salt.
Roast the vegetables for about 30 minutes, until cooked through.
Chop the fresh vegetables, the grapes and the feta.
Toast the walnuts.

To assemble the dish:

In a large bowl, layer the couscous and the roasted vegetables.
Top with the crunchy fresh veggies.
Add the grapes, feta and walnuts.
Top with the salad leaves.

To serve:

Pour the dressing over the salad leaves. Stir through all the layers to mix everything.

Cooked couscous grains.

Roasting vegetables.

Add the salad leaves and the dressing.

Enjoy a delicious and healthy meal!

* The Day is done

by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

The day is done, and the darkness
Falls from the wings of Night,
As a feather is wafted downward
From an eagle in his flight.

I see the lights of the village
Gleam through the rain and the mist,
And a feeling of sadness comes o’er me,
That my soul cannot resist:

A feeling of sadness and longing,
That is not akin to pain,
And resembles sorrow only
As the mist resembles the rain.

Come, read to me some poem,
Some simple and heartfelt lay,
That shall soothe this restless feeling,
And banish the thoughts of day.

Not from the grand old masters,
Not from the bards sublime,
Whose distant footsteps echo
Through the corridors of Time.

For, like strains of martial music,
Their mighty thoughts suggest
Life’s endless toil and endeavor;
And to-night I long for rest.

Read from some humbler poet,
Whose songs gushed from his heart,
As showers from the clouds of summer,
Or tears from the eyelids start;

Who, through long days of labor,
And nights devoid of ease,
Still heard in his soul the music
Of wonderful melodies.

Such songs have power to quiet
The restless pulse of care,
And come like the benediction
That follows after prayer.

Then read from the treasured volume
The poem of thy choice,
And lend to the rhyme of the poet
The beauty of thy voice.

And the night shall be filled with music
And the cares that infest the day,
Shall fold their tents, like the Arabs,
And as silently steal away.