Cous cous with roasted veggies

I decided to try out cous cous with roasted veggies as a side dish. My recipe was inspired by one I found in one of my cookbooks. It pairs well with grilled meat, so we like to make it when the weather cooperates enough for us to cook out. This recipe is really flexible because you can add basically any vegetables that you want. You can even update this recipe with vegetables that are seasonally available. I generally grab a few vegetables that are on sale or in season. We’ve made it with eggplant, squash, and different onions. Dice them roughly into about one-inch pieces. Just toss them in some olive oil and roast in a 425 degree oven until your preferred crispness. I like my roasted veggies to be tender but still have a bit of crunch, so I cook them for 15-18 minutes.

Start working on the cous cous after you pop the veggies in the oven. You can also buy any cous cous flavor or style. We’ve used both regular and pearlized (Israeli) varieties. While you don’t have to add the flavor packet, I would recommend that you do. I personally like the cheesier or garlic flavors. If you buy a cous cous flavor without cheese, you can add a half a cup of Parmesan if you want. You also can season your cous cous however you want. I tend to only use black pepper if I’m using the included seasoning packet. The pre-packaged seasoning blends tend to be pretty high in salt. Most cous cous instructions suggest you cook it in water, but you can also pack in some more flavor by subbing chicken or vegetable stock for water.

Combine the cous cous with roasted veggies before you add any additional seasonings. Taste then decide if you need to add more salt or pepper. If you want, you can stir in any additional cheese at this point. I prefer to add the veggies to the same stock pot that I cooked the cous cous in. It makes for a bit easier clean up.