Roasted Vegetables and Couscous Salad

This recipe is great for a working day lunch, you can prepare it on a Sunday and box it up ready to grab on your way out the door on Monday. Too easy! Its great hot or cold so if you don't have a microwave at work its no problem. 

I also prepare a green salad and box that up too, both will last in the fridge for 3 days or more. All you need to do at lunch is heat the couscous salad up (if you want) and serve with a green salad, sometimes I push the boat out and have a dollop of houmous too. I like to drizzle tahini sauce or a vegan mayonnaise & balsamic dressing on the top. Perfect!

Ingredients (Serves 4)

1 Onion, cut into half moons
1 Red pepper, cut into strips
1 Green pepper, cut into strips
150g Mushrooms, quartered
1 Tsp Paprika
1Tsp Garlic granules
1 Tsp Ground cumin
1 Tsp Chilli flakes
¼ Tsp Ground coriander
¼ Tsp Turmeric
1Tbsp Tomato purée
160g couscous
8 Cherry tomatoes, quartered
1 Small tin sweetcorn, drained

Method

Add the onion, peppers and mushrooms to a roasting tin and spritz with a little oil.

Add ½ a teaspoon of the paprika, garlic granules, cumin, chilli flakes and add the remainder of these herbs to a jug along with the coriander and turmeric.

Stir the vegetables so that they are all coated with the spices and roast in a moderate heated oven for 15 minutes or until the vegetables are starting to char on the edges.

Meanwhile add the tomato purée to the spices in the jug and fill with boiling water so you have 200ml of liquid. Stir so that everything is combined.

Add the couscous to a glass bowl and add the spiced tomato purée liquid, give everything a quick stir and leave to stand for 5 minutes.

Fork the couscous to separate the grains and add to a large bowl. Add the cherry tomatoes and sweetcorn and mix so the sweetcorn is evenly distributed.

Once the vegetables have roasted add to the couscous mixture and give everything one last stir.

Serve with salad leaves and a tahini dressing, houmous or vegan mayonnaise and balsamic dressing.

Specials Board: Couscous Stuffed Vegetables

Couscous Stuffed Vegetables & Vegan Mofo Day 8

Yesterday I made a big batch of couscous with roasted courgettes and I told you to keep back 160g of couscous for another recipe. Well today I am sharing with you that recipe!

Because I didn't have my mammoth cooking session at the weekend I am making dinner each night by creating a different recipe just so I can post for Vegan Mofo. Now that's dedication for you. I like to keep mid week meals simple if I'm cooking from scratch and I'll double up when cooking certain ingredients so I have a base for the next days recipe. So yesterday I cooked more couscous than I needed so I could use it today.

Ingredients (Serves 4 - 8)

160g Cooked couscous from yesterdays recipe 

175g Courgette, grated

1 Tbsp Nutritional yeast

Salt & Pepper

50g Soft vegan 'cheese'

4 Field mushrooms, destalked and peeled

2 Yellow peppers, halved & seeds removed

1 Garlic clove, thinly sliced

Method

Place the mushrooms, gill side up on a baking tray and the peppers cut side up. Add a slice or two of garlic to each mushroom and half pepper.

Bake in a moderate oven for 5 minutes or until the mushrooms start to lose their juices.

Meanwhile mix the couscous and grated courgette in a big bowl, add the nutritional yeast, salt and pepper and mix again.

Add the soft vegan 'cheese' to a microwaveable bowl and heat for 20-30 seconds so that it becomes more mixable. Add the cheese to the courgette and couscous and mix well so that all the ingredients are well combined. The mixture should actually hold its shape if you were to roll into balls.

Spoon the mixture into each pepper half and pile on top of the mushrooms. Press it down so it keeps its shape.

Bake in a moderate oven for another 10 minutes or until the couscous is golden. Serve with a salad or just on there own.

Specials Board: Roasted Courgette Couscous

Roasted Courgette Couscous & Vegan Mofo Day 8

If you are a regular reader you will know that I planned a mammoth cooking session yesterday, but it didn't happen! I can only blame myself, it was self inflicted, one too many vino's at a friends wedding the night before!

I was so mad at myself all day long but the last thing I wanted to do was be near food, yes I was that bad. Terrible isn't it? But enough about feeling sorry for myself the show must go on, even if that means I've put myself under pressure and have to cook, eat and post a recipe each night. Things could be worse, at least this is fun :o)

I got up extra early this morning to make this so I could take it to work for lunch and I was so looking forward to it all morning. Only, when it came to lunch time and I went to the fridge to get it, I found out that I'd brought the wrong container! Arghhhhhh! I'd only gone and brought a container full of cooked plain couscous instead- not very appetizing! Karma? Thank goodness for Marks & Spencer houmous!

Ingredients 

400g Courgette
1 Red pepper
1 Onion
1 Tsp Oregano
Salt & Pepper
Drizzle of Olive oil
1 Tbsp Tomato puree
2 Tsp Garlic granules
2 Tsp Paprika
1 Tsp Ground Coriander
1 Tsp Ground cumin
½ Tsp Chilli flakes
450ml Boiling water
300g Couscous
1 Tin of Sweetcorn, drained

Method
You don't need all the couscous for this recipe, but I cooked it all as I have another recipe in mind for tomorrow that uses couscous. Stay tuned! 

First cut up the vegetables and place in an oven proof dish. Sprinkle with oregano, salt and pepper and drizzle over a little olive oil. Toss the vegetables so that they are all coated with the herbs and oil. Bake in a moderate oven for 20 minutes.

Add the tomato puree to a measuring jug and top it with the herbs and spices. Pour in the boiling water and stir so that all the ingredients are mixed. Pour it over the couscous and give it a good stir. Leave for 5 minutes then break the couscous up with a fork. Transfer 160g of the couscous to a container and keep in the fridge for a different recipe. Or you could use it all but you will need a few more veggies, roasted mushrooms work very well in this dish.

Remove the roasted vegetables from the oven add the sweetcorn and give the veggies a stir. Tip onto the couscous and carefully mix through. Serve straight away or leave to cool and it as a salad.

I served mine with falafels and tahini sauce

I used one of my yellow courgettes for this recipe but regular green courgettes would work just as well. Look at my lovely mellow yellows I've picked!

Stuffed Squash

You know when Autumn is finally here as the veg plots are full of ripe winter squashes and the shops are stacking pumpkins high in preparation for Halloween and beyond. Personally I think carving a home grown pumpkin is such a waste, why miss out on all that delicious flavour.

I have three types of winter squashes sitting in a sunny windowsill, almost smiling at me saying pick me pick me, I'll be delicious. Tonight I could resist no more and I chose a carnival squash to have for my tea.

In my opinion, roasting winter squash truly brings out their sweet flavour, and as an added bonus they are extremely good for you too. High in vitamin A and vitamin C, rich in carotenoid antioxidants and they also provide complex-B vitamins, which are B1, B3, B6, pantothenic acid and folate. So all in all a pretty good vegetable to have on your dinner plate!

Ingredients

1 Carnival Squash

1 Carrot

1 Onion

1 Clove of garlic

1 Yellow pepper

½ Tsp Chilli flakes

1 Tsp Ras el hanout

200g Chestnut mushrooms

½ Small Aubergine

3Tbsp Couscous

1 Bunch Coriander

Method

Pre- heat the oven to 180°C. While the oven is heating up prepare the squash. Cut in half lengthways and remove the seeds. Separate the seeds from the pulp, you can roast them and use as a delicious snack. When the oven is ready place the squash cut side up on a roasting tray and bake for 40 minutes or until the flesh is soft.

While the squash is roasting, peel the carrot, onion and garlic and chop into chunks along with the yellow pepper. Add to a food processor and process until chopped finely. Fry in a little olive oil with the chilli flakes and Ras el hanout until the onion is translucent and the carrot is soft. Transfer to a large bowl.

Add the mushrooms and aubergine to the food processor and process until finely chopped. Transfer to the heated frying pan and cook until the mushrooms have browned and the aubergine is cooked through then transfer to the bowl. 

In a separate bowl add the three tablespoons of couscous and just enough hot water to cover. Leave for 5 minutes before you break up the grains with a fork. Meanwhile finely shred the coriander.

Add the couscous and coriander to the bowl and stir to thoroughly combine.

Remove the carnival squash from the oven and spoon the mixture into the hollow squash and return to the oven for another 5-10 minutes to heat through.

Serve at once.