Couscous with Vegetables
This easy recipe for spiced couscous with vegetables is quick and easy to prepare, and can be served as a side dish accompaniment or as a full meal.
You can make this meal as vegetarian or vegan as you wish. If you make a vegetarian couscous then just use vegetable stock instead of chicken stock.
The recipe is super flexible as you can use any type of vegetable that you prefer.
In these photos, I used some bell peppers and onion, but you can just use anything you fancy.
Similarly, if you wish to add more sweet things to your couscous, like currents or sultanas, feel free.
Bell peppers and onions
What is couscous?
Couscous is a staple food in North African and Middle Eastern cuisine, made from tiny granules of durum wheat semolina. It is a staple food in many countries such as Morocco and Tunisia.
To make couscous, semolina is moistened with water until it forms small pellets. These pellets are then sieved and dried, and the process is repeated until the grains are the desired size.
Couscous can be cooked in a variety of ways, with the most common method being to steam it in a special couscoussier, a traditional North African pot with a steamer basket on top.
The couscous is typically flavoured with spices and served as a side dish or mixed with vegetables, meat, or seafood to make a hearty main course. Couscous is a versatile and easy-to-prepare ingredient that is enjoyed around the world for its nutty flavour and fluffy texture. It is often eaten together with stews.
Couscous with spice mix
Even in France it is widely eaten and is a very popular dish.
I was in fact inspired to write this couscous recipe after eating this very dish in France in Haute Savoie in 2022, with some delicious roast lamb.
I used spices that I had readily available to flavour this couscous. But if you were in Morocco you would probably have your couscous spiced with ras el hanout spices. Unfortunately, I was unable to procure ras el hanout in my local Aldi.
Couscous with Vegetables
I have never really eaten much couscous in the past. What I had been served had always been quite bland. But adding a mix of spices to your couscous flavours it to whatever you want. For me this is a game-changer. We shall certainly be eating more of it now we know how to prepare it.
What to eat with couscous and vegetables
You can use this dish as a simple accompaniment to lamb, beef, fish or seafood. Or try it as a vegetarian meal on its own, if you so wish.
When I first ate this it was together with some wonderful succulent roast lamb. It had been cooked to perfection and made this dish extraordinary.
Couscous with vegetables and chicken curry
In these photos, I served it up with some leftover chicken curry that I had from the day before. The combination went very well. Normally I eat pilau rice with the curry, but the couscous combination went surprisingly well and soaked up the curry sauce perfectly.
I hope you enjoy making this recipe. If you do, please let me know how you get on in the comments section below!
How to make spicy couscous with vegetables
Couscous with Vegetables
This simple meal can be eaten as a side dish to some meat or as a full-blown vegetarian meal if you wish. Easy to prepare and flexible
Ingredients
For the couscous
- 1/2 tsp Garam Masala
- 1/2 tsp Chinese 5 spice
- 1 tsp ketjap Manis
- 1/2 tsp garlic puree
- 1/2 tsp ginger puree
- 1 tsp Premium dark soy sauce
- 1/2 tsp Dijon mustard
- 1 tsp Olive oil
- 200g couscous
- 40g dried apricots
The vegetables
- 2 bell peppers, different colours
- 300ml chicken stock (use vegetable stock if you wish to stay vegan or vegetarian)
- 1 onion
- Herbes de Provence
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 180C.
- Prepare all the ingredients: slice the onions and bell peppers.
- Put the vegetables into a baking tray with sides and pour the stock on top, then sprinkle with Herbes de Provence. Place the vegetables in the oven for about 50 minutes.
- Then mix all the couscous spices together (Garam Masala, Chinese 5 spice, garlic puree, ginger puree, Premium dark soy sauce, Dijon mustard, ketjap Manis, Olive oil) and fold the mixture into the couscous, mix well in a glass bowl with a lid, and let it stand.
- When the vegetables have cooked, pour the remaining stock from the vegetables into the couscous and mix well. Then chop the apricots and add them to the couscous.
- Then with the oven turned off, return the vegetables and the couscous (with lid) to the oven for about 10 minutes, while the couscous absorbs the stock.
Notes
Serve up as a main meal or as an accompaniment to any type of meat you fancy.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 4 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 148Total Fat: 2gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 2mgSodium: 205mgCarbohydrates: 28gFiber: 3gSugar: 9gProtein: 5g
This nutrition information was automatically calculated by Nutritionix, but may not be 100% accurate.