Roasted Mediterranean Vegetables with Couscous

Feeds 2 with generous portions

Takes about 45 minutes to make

This is a great summer meal and it’s worth making too much and eating the leftovers cold for lunch the next day. The meal is very healthy, packed full of flavour and very simple to make. Que aproveche!

Ingredients

  • 1 red bell pepper (cut into strips)
  • 1 small aubergine (cut into chunks)
  • 1 red onion (cut into wedges)
  • 1 courgette (cut into chunks)
  • 6 x closed cup mushrooms (quartered)
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 50 g feta cheese1 (you could use Cheshire, Wensleydale or Lancashire instead)
  • 100g dry couscous2
  • 1-2 tbsp za’atar3 seasoning (or use Cajun for an alternative)

Method

  1. Pre-heat your oven to 200°C.
  2. Place all the chopped vegetables in a large roasting tin and drizzle with the olive oil. Toss the vegetables to ensure they’re coated in the oil (use your hands if necessary).
  3. Now sprinkle the za’atar over the vegetables. Again, toss the vegetables to ensure they’ve all got some seasoning on them.
  4. Place the vegetables in the oven for 20 minutes. After this time, take them out give them a few turns and return back to the oven for a further 10 minutes.
  5. Meanwhile, add 100 ml of boiling water to the dry couscous and let it sit for 5 minutes. Fluff the couscous up with a fork and put half onto each plate.
  6. When the vegetables are done, portion them out between the two plates and top with some crumbled feta cheese.

Tips

  1. You’re probably thinking, how will I use the rest of the Feta (they come in 200g blocks at most supermarkets). Well, visit a cheesemonger and they’ll give you the exact quantity you want and if you take your own tub you’ll produce zero waste. In Derby, Morgan and Sons in the Derbion (Eagle) market is an excellent local cheesemonger.
  2. To avoid plastic waste, I bought Aldi’s 1 kg dry couscous in a cardboard box. Alternatives include the organic couscous (wrapped in plant-derived cellulose film) from Sound Bites in Derby.
  3. Buying za’atar seasoning ready made up is convenient, however it’s pretty simple to make if you’ve already got a good selection of herbs and spices. To make your own, place in a frying pan on a medium heat 1 tbsp of sumac, 1 tbsp whole coriander seeds, 1 tbsp cumin seeds, 1 tbsp dried thyme, 1 tbsp sesame seeds, ¼ tsp chilli flakes and ¼ tsp salt. Heat this until it becomes aromatic (about 3 minutes), then put it in a pestle and mortar and grind it up. Now you’ve got about double what you need for the above recipe.
  • Vegetables ready to roast
  • Roasting za’atar
  • Grinding za’atar