These harissa roasted vegetables with couscous make an incredibly easy meal that’s full of flavor. Vegetarian & vegan it’s delicious and hearty too.
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I’ve mentioned before that we get regular deliveries of both meat and vegetables as we like to have both good quality meat as well as seasonal, good quality vegetables. It also encourages me to cook with things I might not otherwise get and be that bit more creative. Our meals reflect this and there are some regular favorites, some new dishes, some with meat, others without depending on what we have and feel like.
At this time of year, there are a good number of meals that involve roasted vegetables in some form or another – they are so easy to make and delicious. This harissa roasted vegetables with couscous is a great example of how you can easily add flavor without too much effort to make a delicious, hearty meatless meal.
What is harissa?
Harissa is a Middle-eastern spice paste that’s chili-based with a few other spices and vegetables in there as well giving it a gentle sweetness and aroma. It’s delicious alongside a whole range of things like roast chicken and added into cooking.
You can buy it readymade in most good supermarkets or you can make your own (it’s on my to do list – I cheated here!). It adds a great flavor to the already tasty vegetables as they roast with minimal effort – all you do is stir it through with a little oil before putting them in the oven.
Serving meat and vegetables with couscous is very common for Middle-eastern cooking as the couscous is great at taking on the flavors of the rest of your dish, such as the harissa here. It is also good with a few extra additions itself, such as the raisins and almonds I mixed through.
You can also add other things as you eat such as some more harissa, some yogurt or fresh cilantro – it’s a pretty flexible dish so play around with it – you can obviously vary the vegetables in there as well.
This is a great minimal-effort dish that’s hearty and full of flavor as well as being good for you too. It’s perfect on a cold night to warm you and fill you up, with the tasty roast vegetables given that bit of spice from the harissa and the almonds and raisins adding flavor and texture to the couscous. Sometimes the best meals are the easiest, and a bonus when they are healthy too.
Looking for more vegetarian meals? Try these:
- Mushroom galette
- Cuban quinoa bowl with grilled sweet potato and mango-avocado salsa
- Vegetarian bibimbap
- Vegetarian Thai red curry
Plus get more inspiration in the vegetarian recipes archives.
Harissa-roasted vegetables with couscous
Ingredients
- 10 oz butternut squash 290g, peeled and seeded weight
- 1 red pepper
- 2 carrots or 3, if small
- 2 tbsp harissa
- 2 tbsp olive oil divided
- 1 zucchini courgette, medium
- 1/2 cup couscous 90g, you may want 3/4 cup if serving 3
- 2 tbsp ground almonds
- 4 tbsp golden raisins sultanas or regular raisins
- 2 tbsp sliced almonds
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375F/190C.
- Cut the squash, pepper and carrots into large chunks. Put them in a roasting dish and stir through the harissa and 1tbsp of olive oil.
- Roast for around 15-20min then cut the zucchini into thick slices (or half-slices if larger) and add them to the roasting dish. Stir so they take on the harissa and oil.
- Roast for around another 30minutes until the vegetables are tender starting to brown slightly.
- Put the couscous in a heatproof bowl and pour boiling water over it to just cover it. Leave for a couple minutes, ideally covered, to absorb the water then stir in the ground almonds and the remaining 1tbsp of olive oil. Stir through the golden raisins and sliced almonds.
- Serve the vegetables over the couscous with some additional harissa if you'd like. You could also serve with some fresh cilantro/coriander and/or plain yogurt.
Nutrition
See some of my favorite cooking tools and ingredients in the Caroline’s Cooking Amazon store.
See all the other Veggies as a Main dishes being shared today:
- Baked Eggplant Parmesan by The Crumby Cupcake
- Butternut Squash Kale Lasagna by Grumpy’s Honeybunch
- Butternut Squash Portobello Tacos with Garlic Sage Cream Sauce by Daily Dish Recipes
- Butternut Squash Risotto with Crème Fraîche and Fried Sage Leaves by Crazy Foodie Stunts
- Easy Veggie Bake by Confessions of a Cooking Diva
- Eggplant Rollatini by A Day in the Life on the Farm
- Eggplant Rollatini by That Skinny Chick Can Bake
- Flourless Oatmeal Nutella Pumpkin Muffins by Cupcakes & Kale Chips
- Grandma Pizza with Dried Tomatoes by Get the Good Stuff!
- Greek Stuffed Baked Zucchini by The Weekend Gourmet
- Moroccan-style Lentil Chickpea Stew by Food Lust People Love
- Mushroom and Goat Cheese Tart by A Kitchen Hoor’s Adventures
- Polenta with Aged Gouda, Chard & Wild Mushrooms by 30A Eats
- Portobello Stack by The Freshman Cook
- Pumpkin Cake Cheesecake by gotta get baked
- Roasted Butternut Squash and Brussels Sprouts with Pomegranate by Take A Bite Out of Boca
- Roasted Potato and Spinach Soup by Cindy’s Recipes and Writings
- Stuffed Butternut Squash by Life Tastes Good
- Vegan Sandwich with Fresh Veggies by Healing Tomato
- Vegetable Pizza by Feeding Big and more
- Vegetable Strudel by Palatable Pastime
- Vegetarian Chili by Wholistic Woman
