Vegetable Tagine with Summer Couscous

I adore creating delicious dishes from couscous. This dish is a Moroccan staple, couscous is best teamed with saucy dishes like tagines.

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Ingredients

Vegetable Tagine:
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves crushed garlic
3 large onions, thinly sliced, half moons
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 large carrots, sliced in half
½ butternut squash, cut into bite size chunks
2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into bite size chunks
1 courgette, sliced in half
Summer Couscous:
3 cups couscous
4 ½ cups filtered water
1 tsp sea salt
1 Tbsp olive oil (optional)
Canned organic chickpeas
Finely chopped spring onions
Fresh mint
Lemon infused olive oil
Sea salt

I adore creating delicious dishes from couscous. This dish is a Moroccan staple, couscous is best teamed with saucy dishes like tagines.

Method

Tagine:

Heat the olive oil in a heavy based pan.
Add the garlic, onion and cinnamon. Heat on low for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring to coat the onion and garlic with the cinnamon.
Cook until fragrant and crisp. Set aside.
In a tagine or heavy based pot, place the carrots, squash, sweet potatoes and courgette in sections.
Add about an inch of water, cover and place on a very low heat for approximately 25-30 minutes or until vegetables are soft.
Add a little more water if the tagine seems too dry. Serve on a bed of couscous and top with the onions and garlic.

Summer Couscous:

Add the salt and oil to boiling water.
Spread couscous evenly in the bottom of a large casserole so that it is in as thin a layer as possible.
Add the water and cover tightly with a lid or clingfilm.
Wait until all the water is absorbed (about 15 minutes), then fluff with a fork – add a little olive oil here if you wish.

For a delicious and simple couscous salad recipe, make the couscous as described above. Let it cool, and then toss it with canned organic chickpeas, finely chopped spring onions, fresh mint, lemon infused olive oil, and sea salt. Other nice additions are raisins, pine nuts, black and green olives, and flat leaf parsley.

Chickpeas, cannellini beans or borlotti beans add texture and extra protein for vegetarians.
Add lemon juice, loads of flat-leaf parsley, mint, coriander, olive oil and pepper for a salad.
Add roasted vegetables with cooked brown lentils for a great main course for a buffet or a packed lunch.

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